Stay
by Arra Frost
Summary: Naruto loved the one laying next to him so much it hurt. Regardless of his love, it always had to end and no matter how much Naruto begged and pleaded, Sasuke always left after answering the dreaded phone call. SasuNaru GaaNaru AU yaoi
1. Always the Same

**Good evening. For those of you who read Concrete Naruto, this is also a Sasuke x Naruto based fanfiction and it is also somewhat of a song based fanfiction. On an even similar note, it is also a country song. However, this story is based off the song called "Stay" by Sugarland. It is very evident in this first chapter since I have to set down the basis for it, but I will extend it and go into deeper detail throughout the next few chapters. **

**Again, for those of you who have been reading Concrete Naruto, you know how slow I can be when it comes to updating. And now that I will have this story on the go as well, I will attempt my hardest to keep them updated at least once a week, or once every two weeks (depends on how busy the week is). **

**Okay then, now for the...**

**Warnings: SasuxNaru, AU (atlernate universe), homosexuality (if you're homophobic or don't like yaoi/shounen-ai then you are reading the wrong fanfic), adultery, possible OOC (I try my hardest to keep the boys in character but sometimes they slip a little), language (as in swearing, it's bound to happen), and all around mature subject matter should cover it. **

**Fact Sheet:  
****1. AU is within the country of Canada on the east coast somewhere, I don't really feel that I need a specific city name or province to base it off of since that information isn't at all important to be honest.  
2. All characters have been aged by 10 years (i.e. Naruto = 22, Sasuke = 23, Iruka = 36, Kakashi = 37, etc)**

**Alright then, I hope you enjoy and I hate asking this but... please review. Every writer loves getting feedback and I do not at all mind constructive criticism. They really help me update faster (that's not a lie, I swear!). **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the song "Stay" by Sugarland

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Chapter One:

The blonde watched as the familiar car drove into his driveway. Though it was dark he could easily recognize the person in the driver's seat. He watched the headlights of the black Lambourghini car flash off through the window and anticipation hit him.

It was like this every Friday night, and only this night. It always happened the exact same way. Sasuke would get off from work, usually it was very late, and he drove over to Naruto's apartment. He pulled into the driveway the exact same way, shut his lights off and waited a few minutes in darkness and in silence before the door opened and he stepped out into the cold, crisp autumn air.

Naruto smiled as he watched the raven, who glanced knowingly to the window with the curtain opened so discretely. The blonde didn't close the curtains until he received the same smirk and a shake of the head from the raven, musing at his eagerness.

This was his cue, or at least the next step in his pattern, to return to his couch and wait for his door to open. He never locked it on this night. It was pointless for him to lock it and then have to answer it when they both knew he was coming over.

Naruto fidgeted on his couch. He was always impatient on Fridays because of this one reason. It seemed like forever before he would get to see him again, even though it was only a week and it was the same time every week. He should have gotten accustomed to it by now, but no matter how much he told himself that it would always be the same, he always found himself pacing about, anxious to see the raven. Though he couldn't help his craving to see him, to be with him, it was natural.

The door opened and Naruto listened as Sasuke closed the door behind him before taking off his shoes and jacket, putting them in their proper places. The raven then proceeded to make his way to the room where Naruto was always situated, poking his head in cunningly from the hallway.

"Hey cutie,"

The blonde returned the raven's playful smirk with a wide smile. "Hey," he greeted as Sasuke entered the room, taking his place beside Naruto on the couch.

"How was work?" Naruto asked casually, turning to the other.

Sasuke let out a long sigh as he leaned back into the couch, "Exhausting, as usual. We're working on another homicide..."

He didn't continue, Naruto understood. His work wasn't something he could just blab about as a conversation starter. Not to mention cases like these really stressed Sasuke out since he tended to overwork himself to the point of no return. But somehow, Naruto could always help him distress and at least distract him from such tragedies, at least for a little while.

"That's too bad. I like it when you get easy cases. You're here much earlier." Naruto smirked, and Sasuke gave him a side glance, eying him over before chuckling to himself.

"Yeah, and I have more energy for other things."

"Exactly," Naruto giggled, "but you're good no matter how tired you are."

Sasuke rose an eyebrow to this and Naruto returned it with a mischievous grin. "Real cute."

"I try."

"Nah, cuteness just comes naturally to you," the raven retorted, causing them both to laugh.

"Now who's being cute?" Naruto poked the older man in the arm.

"Still you," was always Sasuke's final response before he shifted closer on the couch and placed a short, sweet kiss on the other's lips.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Whatever." This was always his last reply, and it was also accompanied with a faint blush. He didn't deny his cuteness or argue that Sasuke was cute, even though he was more handsome and sexy than cute. There were differences between these, and, of course, a gay man such as Naruto had to distinguish between the terms.

Sasuke didn't really need to since he wasn't at all as open as Naruto was... in fact one could say that he was very deeply in the closet and only Naruto knew of his real sexual orientation. But despite the fact of being in the closet, deep _deep_ inside the closet, Sasuke was just as gay as Naruto, if not more so.

"Cute shirt," The raven had moved his hand to the blonde's collar and played with the fabric between his fingers, obviously just using it as a way to get closer, even though they both knew they needn't a reason.

Naruto gazed down at the clothes he was wearing. Earlier he had changed into an orange button-up shirt and dark jeans, it was better to stay casual. He knew they weren't going out. They never went anywhere. That was just something he'd gotten used to, or at least convinced himself he'd gotten used to it.

Just as he looked down, Sasuke's hand automatically lifted and cradled the blonde's chin between his index finger and his thumb. Naruto's azure eyes were forced into an intimate connection with the raven's dark, deep, enchanting eyes.

They got to him every time he gazed into them. They drew him in and he couldn't look away no matter how hard he tried. It was as though those black orbs could see through him and into his soul, into the deepest secrets of his being that even Naruto himself was unsure of.

It was an odd feeling, staring into eyes that seemed to drown him. Naruto never knew if it was a good thing or a bad thing that Sasuke could entrance him with just a mere glance. They were his weakness and Sasuke's strength, the one thing that could make him be forgiven no matter what the consequence, or so it seemed.

The orbs grew as Sasuke leaned in closer, pulling Naruto's face towards his simultaneously. Naruto didn't resist, he never could resist those eyes, or the other's touch, and again he found himself drowning in the presence of the man he loved so deeply it hurt.

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Naruto lay on his back in his bed, next to Sasuke, both under the covers and relaxing after their previous activities. Naruto sat with his head resting on Sasuke's chest, listening to his heartbeat which should have been significantly relaxing for someone who had just made love. But for Naruto it was just another pattern, just another step which he never wanted to follow through.

His excited anxiety would always be replaced at this point by a different type of anxiety. A terrible anxiousness that ate at his heart, threatening the tears to form in his eyes as they inevitably would.

It always happened like this. However now, Naruto tried his hardest to keep his eyes off the clock on the wall, he didn't want to know the time or count the seconds. It hurt too much for him that he almost wished the previous had not happened, no matter how deeply he cared for the one laying next to him. It was always fun, always pleasurable, and it always ended.

As Naruto listened to Sasuke's even breathing, a dreaded tone rang throughout the bedroom and Sasuke removed his hand from Naruto's side, where it had been resting peacefully, to answer his cell-phone.

Naruto bit his lower lip, forcing the tears back because he knew who was on the other end. He knew what Sasuke was going to say to him once he hung up from his short "Yes. No. I'll be right there. Bye." conversation.

Sasuke didn't even say a word as he pulled the covers off of himself, careful not to disturb the blankets covering the naked blonde, and proceeded to dress in the clothing he had left discarded on both the bed and the floor.

The blonde watched him silently, still successfully holding back the tears. But as Sasuke turned to him, now fully dressed, the tears began to form in his soft blue eyes.

"Sasuke..." he whispered in a pitiful plea. But he didn't care how pitiful he sounded, he didn't want Sasuke to leave, he never did.

"I have to go," he stated as simply as ever, as simply as he had ever stated it in the past. Though every time, Naruto would swear that there was disappointment in the raven's voice. A subtly tone that told the blonde that he didn't want to leave his side either.

"No, you don't. Please stay with me, Sasuke..." Again Naruto begged, sitting up in the bed, not caring that the blankets covering his torso fell to his waist. He was male, which meant he didn't need to clutch them to his chest.

Sasuke shook his head to this response, they were both used to this by now but it no matter how many times this happened, it didn't change the fact that tears would always be falling from Naruto's devastated eyes. Nor the fact that Sasuke couldn't bear to look into them.

Each time they departed like this, Sasuke always averted his eyes, refusing to look at the crying blonde pleading with him from the bed. Whether it was because of guilt or because of disgust, Naruto did not know, but he hoped with all his heart that Sasuke felt guilty for making the one he secretly loved cry.

"Don't leave me! Please, just stay with me this one time! Just this once! Please, Sasuke..."

Sasuke shook his head once more, raking his hands through his hair, either frustrated with Naruto or himself, before turning away from the bed and Naruto.

"...please... I love you..."

He didn't turn around or acknowledge the soft words chocked with tears, instead he walked clean out of the room, driving a knife into the heart of the blonde which he left to listen to his footsteps treading through his house as tears fell freely down his face.

Though Sasuke did not slam the door, the mere sound of it shutting the raven out of his life for the time being felt like someone had pushed the knife deeper into his wounded heart.

More tears dripped from his face, soaking the blankets surrounding him as he cried aloud. The car's engine had been started, and there was a long pause between that time and the time when the car pulled out of the driveway and screeched down the road towards the city.

Naruto couldn't even fathom how pathetic he looked right then, crying his eyes out as he sat naked in his bed, the blankets barely covering his upper body. He'd been left abandoned as he always was, but it didn't matter how many times this happened, it always hurt the same, if not more than the last time Sasuke left him at the request of the caller.

Why couldn't Sasuke ever listen to him? Why did he always have to leave him in such a mess, in such a wreck of a person, without even any words of comfort?

It was always so difficult, so hard for him to let him go. And none of it made sense to him. Why did Sasuke deny himself so clearly? It wasn't necessary for him to hide and deny his sexual orientation any longer. But for as long as he had been with Naruto, he never once let the public know about his homosexuality. His whole life was a denial and no matter how much Naruto tried to make him see, Sasuke was blind. Blind to the fact that there was no way that woman could love Sasuke like he could. Sasuke needed a man to love him, not a woman, yet Sasuke always chose her when he had Naruto sitting right there before him.

They didn't need to live like this. Naruto was more than ready to give Sasuke everything he needed and more. But no matter how much be begged and pleaded down on his knees, no matter how much he gave him, Sasuke always returned to her, his wife.


	2. Ichiraku Ramen

**Guess once a week thing could work out if I keep it up at this point. I must say I'm pleased with my rate of writing lately (don't know how long it'll last though... eheh). **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or "Stay" by Sugarland

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Chapter Two:

Naruto wandered about his home, searching for something to do...searching for something, _anything_ to distract him. He'd been pondering all day long about his current situation. Technically it was an ongoing situation, because this had been going on for almost a year now and it normally ended the same way.

Because of this, his sense of time was continuously thrown off. Like when he was anticipating Sasuke's arrival every Friday. It seemed like they had only been 'dating' for a month, maybe even less than that. But on the night of... after he was rejected, tossed aside like an old used rag... it felt like that pain had been killing him for years.

It was dreadful for the blonde when he had to contemplate their life... or whatever it would be categorized as.

Why was he always left out in the cold? He didn't like being the 'other woman', not that he was a woman, obviously, but he couldn't just as well call himself the 'other man' because Sasuke's wife was no more a man than he was a woman.

This was so fucking complicated. Naruto didn't know how much longer he could take this stress, this constant and unbearable pain of having to share the man he loved. And he wasn't even number one in his lover's eyes. He was second. He was the one that he'd go to only one night a week when she got to have him for the 7 other days and 6 other nights.

It tormented Naruto to no end and he just didn't think he could take this anymore. How many times had Sasuke promised him...? How many times did his hopes come crashing down...? How many times did Naruto say 'I love you', never to have it returned? Tears rolled down his cheeks as he paced across his stopped pacing his living room floor and sat himself down on his couch, moving the blankets out of the way with a frustrated cry.

He had slept on the couch last night, after Sasuke had left. Friday night he couldn't sleep in his bed. It was so empty not having Sasuke there after they had just slept together. Just once he wished he could wake up on a Saturday morning, in his own bed, with Sasuke lying next to him, holding him, cuddling him.

Once again the blonde was reduced to tears and curled up on his couch, holding dearly onto the blanket as though it offered him some form of security. He was so sick of being lonely, so tired of waking up alone when the one he loved always had someone beside him. It tore at his insides, shredding him from the innermost part of his soul. He didn't know how much longer he could take this, but he always seemed to manage to make it through another week. Just to get excited to be broken all over again.

The phone rang, waking Naruto from a disturbed sleep. He had cried himself to sleep once again on a Saturday morning. He glanced at the clock beside the television to see that it was almost noon.

Sighing loudly, he pulled himself off the couch, a difficult effort when you were as depressed and heartbroken as he, and dragged himself to the kitchen where the phone was actively ringing.

Leisurely he picked up the phone, not at all in the mood to communicate with anyone in the living world, and muttered out a greeting which direct translation would be, "Lo," but could easily be translated to, "Hello," for those who knew him.

"Finally crawl your miserable ass out of bed?" Came a smart reply on the other end.

Naruto let out a long, exasperated breath, glad he didn't have to be falsely optimistic to the person calling him. It was only Kiba Inuzuka, his best friend. Even though he was a completely annoying smart ass, he was also a really good friend because he was always there to listen to Naruto's troubles.

"Come on Uzumaki, I'm only joking with ya," He offered when he only received the sigh. No matter how concerned he seemed and no matter how much he knew that Saturdays were Naruto's worst days, he still managed to make a joke at the blonde's expense and apologize, sort of, for it afterwards.

"I know..." Naruto groaned, he was far from any mood to joke around or put shit behind him or even look on any bright side. Saturday was his day of self-pity and self-loathing. Kiba should have gotten it through his thick skull that Naruto hated himself and blamed himself for constantly putting himself through the same old shit every week by now. However, Naruto expected Kiba was well aware of this, and that was why he kept calling and offering some possibility of positivity. Or perhaps Kiba was just wary that Naruto might attempt to do something stupid and permanently stop himself from putting himself through such horrible weeks.

"Same old, same old?" Kiba asked in a tone that was more-so stating then it was asking, since it was obvious things had not gone well for the blonde last night.

"...yeah..." Naruto sat down at his kitchen table, dropping his head softly to rest on the surface of the hard wood. Still he kept the phone to his ear, but he closed his eyes, allowing his sadness to overwhelm him once more. Kiba and Naruto both understood this routine by now. Naruto would be left broken hearted, Kiba would call, and they would sit with the phones against their ears in near silence. Occasionally Kiba would throw in a possible conversation starter, but he received no assistance in the process from the dejected blonde.

"Do you wanna grab some ramen?" The Inuzuka proposed, a subtle hint of hope in his voice, hope that this might persuade the ramen loving man out from his despair.

Naruto shook his head, his forehead rubbing against the table, but he didn't open his eyes.

A few minutes of silence passed by, Naruto figured the brunette on the other end was chewing over another idea to get him out of the house.

"Yes, no?" Kiba offered once more.

Naruto sighed and just about told him that he'd said 'no' when he realized he hadn't. Kiba was on the phone, not able to _see _him shake his head. Damn he really did need to get out of the house. His mind was deteriorating into nothing.

"Yeah sure..." He mumbled none-too enthusiastically. He really didn't want to leave the secure depressive state of his home, but he supposed he owed Kiba something for putting up with his sop story every week.

"Awesome!" Kiba was almost thrown off track, surprised that the blonde had finally agreed to go outside even without a hell of a lot of begging. "I'll come pick you up in five minutes."

Naruto just about nodded again when he remembered his mistake and went to open his mouth to tell the Inuzuka 'okay', but he stopped himself at that too, realizing something completely unrelated to his inability to properly converse on a phone. "Five minutes? It takes almost twenty to get here from town."

And Kiba lived in town, thus it should take him almost twenty minutes to come and pick him up.

"Yeah I know, but I was already on my way over. See you then." With that the Inuzuka hung up his cell phone, which he logically had to have been on, leaving Naruto on the other end to shake his head at his relentless friend. He was definitely very lucky to have a friend like him. Which was probably the only reason Naruto ever dragged himself out of his misery to answer the phone in the first place.

"Well hello there, Naruto-kun! I never see you here on a Saturday," The owner of the Ichiraku Ramen Bar, Teuchi, greeted his favorite regular energetically as the two men walked in underneath the curtains, "And hello to you as well Inuzuka-san." (1)

Kiba nodded a greeted and Naruto offered his best fake smile to the elderly man as he sat down at the counter on one of the stools, luckily for Naruto , his fake smile was extremely convincing. Not to mention this small, old fashion bar always cheered him up, at least just by a little bit.

It was so refreshing to be in this place which held so many memories for him. He'd been coming here since he was a young boy, always ready to greet Teuchi by calling him 'ou-chan' or 'old man.' At the time Naruto had given the man the nickname, even though he wasn't even in his forties yet, since Naruto must was around eight years old. He grew up coming to this store, hanging out with Teuchi's daughter, Ayame, who Naruto rapidly took to calling 'neechan' or 'older sister.'

Once Naruto was around twelve years, he became the bar's favorite customer, coming here almost every day and buying as much ramen as he could afford. Ayame and Teuchi were always pleased to see him, especially when he brought other people to cover his bill, because that always meant more profit for them. Naruto had a way of tricking people to treating him to ramen, and then eating at least five bowls of ramen. Not only did he do this, he did it without the other noticing. This was because Naruto was a very fast eater, especially of ramen, and could finish five bowls in the time it took someone else to eat one.

Not only did Naruto love his memories of this place, he also loved the atmosphere. Both Teuchi and Ayame were still keeping their Japanese culture alive, which was rare in their city, even though the shop was near the water front which was as close to the city as Naruto's apartment. They kept to Japanese traditions, and greeted people with formal Japanese suffixes like 'kun' 'san' and 'chan'. It had faded over the years, now that Teuchi was getting ready to retire since he was nearing his mid-fifties and Ayame was taking over the business. Though Ayame was just as traditional as her father, she didn't display it to other people as much.

"Hey old man, can I get some miso-pork ramen with egg?" This was generally the blonde's regular order. He tended to always stick to miso-pork ramen, switching it up with an egg or salt or something else that could suffice.

"I'll have the same," Kiba stated from his seat next to Naruto. Kiba wasn't entirely as familiar with this shop as the blonde was, he rarely came here when they were younger, he said he didn't really like the taste and the smell of the ramen was too strong for his sensitive nose. But lately, within the last year or so, Kiba had visited this small bar more and more with the Uzumaki as he buried his sorrows with bowl upon bowl of ramen.

Teuchi smiled his regular wide smile, glad to have his favorite customer of ten years around and turned to holler out back.

"Ayame-chan, two miso-pork ramen with egg for our best customer!"

The young brunette woman, aged around twenty-seven years now, promptly poked her head from out back, "Ah Naruto-kun! How nice to see you!" She was smiling pleasantly, here long brown hair held back with a white bandana that left her bangs to frame her face. "And Kiba-san, how good to see you as well. What will you be having?"

"The same as Naruto," he repeated, seeming somewhat confused.

"So that's four miso-pork ramen with-"

"No Ayame, just two." Naruto corrected the women with a laugh, "Just one for me and one for him."

"Oh... how odd," Now it was Ayame's turn to be confused, since she was used to Naruto ordering more than one bowl for himself. But she quickly got over her confusion as she appeared to realize something. "Ah, Naruto-kun, why don't you call me 'nee-chan' anymore?"

"Because we're adults now," Naruto answered simply, then added, "Besides, you're only five years older than me."

"That doesn't mean I don't deserve your respect," Ayame huffed slightly as she set a ramen bowls in front of each man. It looked more delicious than usual and Naruto suspected Ayame put in some extra good ingredients, since he hadn't been around in a good little while.

Both Kiba and Naruto broke apart their chopsticks, Naruto adding "Itadakimasu," a word used prior to eating which usually translates to 'I will receive,' before they both slurped up some ramen noodles.

Naruto looked up after he'd finished swallowing his rather large mouthful of noodles and his eyes curved as he gave offered a very charming smile. "As long as you make ramen as good as this, you'll always have my respect Ayame-neechan." This comment produced a cute giggle-like laugh from the brunette woman and she shook her head at the stubborn blonde she pretty much grew up with.

Naruto's smile faded slightly as he took a big chunk of pork into his mouth, chewing it slowly. He was definitely glad that Kiba decided to bring him here. This place was a great pick-me-up for him, but it couldn't distract him for long. Besides cheering him up, it also reminded Naruto of how much he'd changed. From a young, foolish, hyper-active boy, to a foolish, depressed man who chased after a man who was already taken.

He glanced up with blue eyes that had grown dull from the brightness they'd once retained, what would Ayame-neechan think of him if she knew the truth? What would she say to him if she knew he was having an affair with a married man? She already knew he was gay, everyone he knew he had come out to years ago, and everyone seemed to be perfectly accepting of that. No one judged him because of his homosexuality, not even an old fart like Teuchi, but this was a much different matter. Something even more taboo.

He was lucky to have Kiba beside him, someone who didn't look down on him because of who he loved. He was mainly concerned with what this affair was doing to the poor blonde, not about the marriage he could potentially be ruining. Yet another topic that crossed his mind quite frequently. Yes he was jealous of this woman, and didn't think it fair for her to have the best side of the man he loved. But it wasn't her fault that her husband was gay and sleeping with a man behind her back. Naruto knew he couldn't wish unhappiness on her, because she'd done nothing wrong, but that didn't change the fact that he wanted to be with her husband more than anything and it was killing him inside.

"Water, Naruto-kun?" The cheerful brunette woman asked, waving a jug of water in front of the spaced-out blonde.

Naruto looked up, instantly brightening up and putting his fake smile back on, he couldn't bear to have these two know he had changed from the carefree youth to the miserable man he was. "Yes, thanks Ayame."

Just as she was about to pour the water into the glass she'd set beside Naruto's ramen bowl, she stopped and gave Naruto a cheeky look, "Ayame..."

Naruto sighed and rolled his eyes at the older woman's immaturity, "Ayame-_neechan_."

Quite pleased with herself, Ayame poured water for Naruto and Kiba both.

Naruto smiled as he sipped his water, there was no doubt in his mind that he never wanted these two people, who had never viewed him in a hostile light, to know about his secret Friday night life that consumed his soul.

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**(1) I think it is safe to assume most of you readers know what Ichiraku Ramen looks like, since most Naruto fanfiction readers have either watched the anime or read the manga. ****But for those of you who haven't, and don't know what Ichiraku looks like, just go to google images****and type in "Naruto Ichiraku Ramen." (in the second row of pictures, the last one should be a picture of the outside of the bar).**

**I'm sorry if the personalities of Teuchi or Ayame are off, I haven't watched the anime in well over a year (if not two) and since they are **_**main**_** characters I don't remember their personalities that well. I did watch episode 52 (when they are first introduced) but they were only there briefly and it didn't show much of them. And I watched the beginning of episode 168 (when Ayame is kidnapped, but only part 1, couldn't get to the other 2). So I apologize if they're off.**


	3. Sharing

**Who would have ever thought I would update again huh? Guess that once/twice a week thing really didn't work out... I saw it coming, but well, I just hate it when authors drop stories, and I can't actually allow myself to do that, so I sat myself down when I was dead tired without sleep for two days (which seems to be when I write the best because I let my blockers go), and started writing. Then the next day I continued, worked out some plot and finished this chapter. I hope you guys can forgive me for such a long wait and I will be extremely grateful if you continue to read and possibly review. Thanks so much, enjoy!**

_**IMPORTANT NOTICE! ~~ **_**I forgot to mention WHERE this AU takes place... I'm sure some of you guessed it was in Japan since Ichiraku Ramen was still keeping their Japanese traditions alive, but that is because their traditions have been brought to a new country. This is taking place in Canada, particularily the East coast in one of the Atlantic provinces since that's where I live and I'm most familiar with this. It is the modern era. I don't really feel the need to be specific about which province or city though since I doubt it will really be mentioned or effect anything at all. But for those of you just starting new with the first chapter... I've already made this change in the first chapter so you can disregard this and continue on as if I never forgot in the first place ^.^ haha. So... Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba, Iruka, everyone is Canadian. Okay... I hope that clears everything up ^.^**

**TAKES PLACE IN MODERN DAY CANADA (in case you didn't read the long winded speal)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the song "Stay" by Sugarland

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Chapter Three:

"I promise, Naruto." Sasuke spoke this softly, sensually, before moving in to claim the blonde's lips.

Naruto pulled the man that lay above his closer to his body. Holding him tightly, as though if he let him go, he'd leave to be with her.

"One day I'll be with only you."

So many times Sasuke had told him this over the endless months they'd been together, and never once did he follow through on his promise that was always brought up at the most sensual moments. He knew he couldn't take him seriously anymore. He knew that these words were a lie and that Sasuke was only saying them in the heat of the moment, but that didn't stop him from holding onto them as dearly as he held the speaker. He wanted so desperately to believe him that it hurt. It hurt to be brought up so high only to be dropped off a steep cliff when the man he loved would return to the woman he married.

So why did he continue to accept him in this manner? Why couldn't he just deal with the truth and stop his heart from enduring the pain of loving this man that he had to share? Why was he the only one who had to suffer like this?

"Naruto?" A sudden voice that didn't belong to his lover snapped his mind back from dwelling in past memories which tormented him so.

Looking up from his desk, where he was originally supposed to have been grading papers, he saw his mentor, Iruka.

"Ah, Iruka-sensei!" He shouldn't have been so surprised, he usually spent his lunchbreaks with this man that had inspired him to teach.

"Are you all right, Naruto? You seem a little on edge today." Iruka asked, genuinely concerned about the younger mans state. Normally he was so energetic and happy while he was at school. He would put on his fakest smile and convince everyone that he was perfectly fine and his life couldn't have been better. But today, and other times when he felt he was alone, his mind would fall back to reality after a tiring morning of putting on such a strongly contrasting facade.

"Yes... I'm fine Iruka-sensei. Just a little tired, is'all," Naruto tried to play it off to the elder teacher, but by the expression on the brunet's face, he was not believing it.

It was only natural for Iruka to see through Naruto's falsehood. He'd pretty much taken care of the boy since childhood and was there for him when his parents had died in a car accident.

"I doubt that Naruto, you look like hell." The older man sighed, scratching the scar across the bridge of his nose that he did out of habit. "I wish you wouldn't lie to me, you can trust me with anything."

Naruto groaned inwardly, feeling guilt run through him. He knew he could trust this man, and he'd told him everything in his life before, but with what was going on now... he didn't know if he could actually release this information. How he had kept this from Iruka for so long was a question in itself, but somehow he'd been able to hide it for nearly a year. How could he come out and tell him everything now after keeping it a secret for so long, he couldn't bare to have the man think that he betrayed him or didn't trust him.

"I trust you with my life, Iruka. Just for now, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me figure this out in my own time. I promise I'll tell you about it when I'm ready. Just right now, I need my privacy." Naruto didn't want that to sound harsh or seem as though he _wanted_ to keep this a secret from him.

The truth was, Naruto really wanted to confide in him... but it was so difficult that Naruto had barely been able to tell Kiba after a few long hours of it being butchered out of him. Kiba was a very persistent person, which was very lucky for the both of them because if he wasn't, Naruto strongly doubted that he would still be such a close friend.

Iruka sighed reluctantly, once again scratching the scar across his nose. "All right Naruto, I trust you to tell me when you're ready. But you know that I'm always available to talk to."

Naruto nodded, flashing a brief smile of thanks to his senior. He was also very lucky to have this man in his life, always there for him when he needed him, even if he had to be oblivious to what was actually going on in Naruto's life.

"Now come on, let's go have lunch, I brought a bento box for you. It's sake bento!"Iruka flashed the homemade packaged meal of broiled salmon, among other foods he included. The man had always been a marvelous cook and his speciality was fish, something Naruto couldn't have enough of when Iruka made it.

A wider smile, less fake than the last ones, spread across Naruto's lips. "Well... I guess I could spare a few moments. Wouldn't want to be rude when you went through all that trouble."

Iruka laughed at Naruto's sarcastic voice, it was very obvious that Naruto was instantly swayed by the mention of salmon. "Yes, yes and if you're any slower I'll assume you're disrespecting me. Let's go!"

The blonde shook his head as he rose from his desk to tag along after the older, more vivacious for once, teacher.

* * *

Burying himself in his work after school had become a skill of Naruto's over the past couple months. He did it everyday, Monday through Thursday. Friday he didn't stay any longer than he had to for obvious reasons.

Today he'd managed to confine himself to his classroom until five pm. At least he'd managed to get all of the papers graded for his two grade ten History classes and even some of the essays from his European History class, which consisted of mostly grade eleven students.

Now all he had to do was drag himself home and make some supper so he could eat in solitude. Naruto sighed, that was the best part of his life, being alone for nearly every meal he ate at home. That loneliness was only interrupted during special occasions or when Kiba showed up unexpectedly or uninvited.

He walked out of the high school he'd only been officially teaching in for two months, since the previous semester at the end of the year he'd been Iruka's student teachers. The high school took him on this year as a full-time teacher, giving him charge of all the History 10 classes for both semesters and both of the European History classes, one each semester.

As he headed through the empty parking lot towards his little orange Sunfire, a thought struck him. He didn't have any food for supper tonight. He hadn't gone grocery shopping in almost two weeks. Damn, so he wouldn't be able to go straight home and crawl under his blankets to die. First he'd have to face the many people who would be shopping at Sobeys, just as long as he didn't run into anyone he knew, he'd be fine.

* * *

Naruto made his way unconsciously through many aisles, placing items such as milk potato chips, popcorn, cans of tuna and bread into his basket without paying much attention to what he was doing. He wasn't planning on buying too much, just some things to fill his fridge and cabinets. He was getting closer to the frozen food section of large store when he nearly ran into someone's cart.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" He hastily apologized.

"No, I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going!" The person he'd collided with apologized just as quickly in a very feminine voice.

As Naruto looked up from his dazed confusion only to have his eyes widen in shock. The woman currently standing behind the cart in dismay had very light red, almost pink in some lights, framing her face and her green eyes held concern as she watched the man she'd crashed into compose themselves.

However, at this point Naruto just about lost all composure once again. Seeing this woman's face wasn't something that happened very often, and never this close up.

"I-it's fine. No one was harmed." Two parts of himself were battling within him on how to respond but Naruto managed to say this sentence, as opposed to something much different, in what he hoped sounded like a very normal and calm voice before he attempted to move around her and dismiss that this encounter ever happened.

"Wait, I really should apologize. That was all my fault. My husband always tells me I need to stop reading the back of all the food I buy," she held up a small box of cereal bars for emphasis, "but I just can't help wanting to know the nutritional value in the food I eat. I'd be a very hypocritical nurse for telling others to eat healthy if I'm not." She laughed at the end of this, and as friendly as Naruto had to admit she was, he didn't think he would ever be able to have a conversation with this woman.

"Yeah... I can't say that I disagree." The blonde quickly shot out a response, hoping it to be his last, as he once again tried for escape.

"I'm Sakura Uchiha, by the way," the fair-haired woman introduced herself with a smile.

Though it wasn't necessary, Naruto already knew who she was. She was the wife of the man he loved. She was the one he had to share her husband with, unbeknownst to her, but she would never have any reason to suspect that the man she married was actually gay and having an affair with a blonde man she'd never met until now.

"Yeah, nice to meet you," Naruto choked out these words that almost refused to fall from his tongue. His heart was telling him to hate her, to tell her to fuck off and watch where she was going from now on, but his mind was telling him that none of his misfortunes were actually her fault and she was a nice woman in her own right who had done nothing to be outwardly hated by him. He just wanted to get out of there before his heart won or before he'd have to give up his identity. Somehow, though it was completely illogical, Naruto felt that if he told her his name, she would figure everything out and all his joy and misery would come to an end.

"I don't think I've seen you around before, do you live here?" Once again she refused to allow him to escape, even though she was oblivious to the fact that Naruto wanted to run like hell to avoid her and never see her face again.

"Yeah, I live here." Naruto answered, still refusing to give her any details about himself, especially his name. "Well, it was nice bumping into you, I have to be on my way." A part of him felt really bad for being so rude to a person he just met, but the other side of him was keenly aware that he knew who she was and that she was dangerous for him to be near. The rudeness was only in his self-defense.

"Oh, yes, I'm so sorry!" The pinkish-haired woman blushed in embarrassment, again making Naruto feel guilty. "I'm sorry to keep you."

Naruto nodded to her, because he doubted his mouth would do him any further good at this point, and he flashed a fake smile that he hoped was convincing before moving along quickly to get out of her way and on to the frozen food section.

He didn't dare to look backwards as he hastily filled his basket with the desired frozen foods he'd originally came here for. To be honest he didn't even want to finish shopping, he just wanted to dump his basket there and run away from the store before he had another opportunity to run into her again. But the logical part of his brain told him that he needed food to survive another lonely night at his house.

As that thought passed through his mind he unconsciously pulled a large tub of heavenly hash ice cream out of the freezer, knowing he would need it tonight, and made his way cautiously up a random aisle to the cash registers.

As he contemplated which line would get him out of here quicker he spotted the one who shared his lover's bed five cashiers down. She was reading a magazine as she waited in line with her very full cart. It would take her a longer time than Naruto with his small basket and tub of ice cream that would be devour in a fit of depressing tears once he arrived in the safety of his home.

He felt like he'd left his mind temporarily and allowed his body to do all the work on its own. Soon he found himself inside his car, sitting in the drivers seat with his packages in the back seat. Turning on his engine, he returned enough to pull out of the parking lot and start his twenty minute drive to his house in the outskirts of town.

Tears formed in his eyes as he sped down the street, turning off onto the highway which would lead him to his home. Why did he have to meet her there? He had lived with hope that he would never ever need to consider her a person in her own right and once Sasuke finally realized who he was meant to be with, he would be able to forget about her and pretend she never existed in the first place.

Though there was little hope of that happening. He felt that nagging in the back of his mind everyday. She was the one who had Sasuke, she was the one who slept in his bed, lived in his house, cooked his meals, and wore his ring. After everything Naruto had given, after all he'd suffered and after all the times he'd embraced Sasuke so lovingly, she was the one who he belonged to. Naruto didn't have any part of Sasuke, only his Friday evenings, that was all.

Naruto cried allowed, gripping the steering wheel painfully as the tears rolled freely down his cheeks. He'd given Sasuke everything, all the best of himself, so why did she get to have the best of him?

* * *

**Thanks for reading, sorry it's not longer but I wanted to post what I had now in case I didn't have a chance t write for a little while. **

**Oh and I also thought I'd let you know that I hadn't originally planned to make Sakura his wife... in fact I wanted to avoid using her because so many yaoi fans already hate Sakura intensely (which I personally disagree with... I do dislike her in the beginning because of how she behaves but she changes which in turn gets me to like her more, and I don't think she'd be in the way of Sasuke and Naruto's love if that ever did happen in the series... which is to say improbable). So please don't hate her too much, please?**


	4. Best Friends

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: As you may have noticed my penname has changed, I was once "arra . fire" and now I'm "Arra Frost" (no I'm not switching my favorite elements, I love fire and hate the cold, it's just that Frost is my favorite lastname and is my grandmother's maiden name, I always use it as an alias and I want to use it here as well). I am still the same person, I hope there is no confusion.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or "Stay" by Sugarland

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Chapter Four:

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. He's definitely not well enough to come in today. I sent him back to bed with a couple aspirin. I may not be a doctor for humans but I know when someone's ill or not."

"Thanks for taking care of him, Kiba."

"No problem, Iruka. He is my best friend after all."

Kiba hung up the phone after saying good-bye to Naruto's mentor and then turned back to face the blonde who lay snuggled up on the couch with a blanket and a large tub of ice cream.

"Thanks Kiba," Naruto mumbled his thanks very weak heartily, but he did mean it. He couldn't express how lucky he was to have Kiba as his best friend. Always around to look after him.

"Like I said to Iruka, no problem man." But Naruto could hear a sigh in his voice, he was probably just worried for him and sighing at the fact that once again Naruto was tormenting himself by staying in this hopeless relationship.

Kiba had asked asked him many times near the beginning to leave him, not to put up with this, but he tried to be understanding of his friend's situation and eventually gave up on trying to win a lost fight.

No matter how much logic there was in his friend's argument, he felt tied down to Sasuke, unable to leave him for fear that he'd lose what love he'd worked so hard to gain... if he had gained any at all. Everyday he clung to the hope that Sasuke would keep to his promise and there was no way Naruto could bring himself to risk losing what he might almost have. What if he broke things off with Sasuke the day before he left his wife? Naruto's heart would be more than broken, it would shatter and disolve, never to exist again.

"She's nice..." Naruto mumbled, sinking back into the memory of yesterday evening. It kept running through his mind, along with the thought of what he might be destroying. Kiba's alert attention was quickly brought onto himself and he stood there, waiting. "She's friendly, kind, pretty, nice..."

Kiba sighed once again, shaking his head sadly. "Naruto, you have to stop beating yourself up like this. It's..." he paused before continuing where one would normally say _it's not your fault,_ "it's not good."

This time it was the blonde's turn to sigh. They never spoke it out loud, but Naruto knew that Kiba couldn't outwardly say that this whole thing wasn't Naruto's fault. It wasn't that he was blaming Naruto for the amount of pain he was in, but he also didn't let Naruto off the hook entirely. The Uzumaki understood this and agreed, of course he also knew that he blamed himself more than Kiba blamed him. Kiba was only referring to the fact that Naruto had the choice to leave, but never made it. Naruto... well he had lost all self-respect for himself and put most of the responsibility of this situation on himself.

He decided it was better not to respond and instead he shoved another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. Much to his disbelief... the ice cream wasn't making him feel any better about himself... perhaps this treatment only worked on females. If so, then what the hell were men supposed to do? Gay men at that.

"Naruto..." Kiba started but stopped once Naruto's blue eyes shifted towards him and he could clearly see the hurt and depression written deep within them.

"Move over..." he finally submitted and Naruto shifted on the couch to make room for his friend to sit down beside his head, where he normally sat. Kiba took his place and immediately after he was comfortable he motioned Naruto to lay his head down on his lap and he began stroking his hair comfortingly.

Without motivation, Naruto started crying yet again. Kiba didn't hear any sounds, no sobbing, sniffling, all he felt were the blonde's tears beginning to soak his cargo pants.

* * *

Naruto's awoke to the sound of a microwave beeping. His vision was blurry and he could feel the salt from his tears dried against his face. He yawned loudly as he sat up from his couch, the blanket sliding off of him ever so slightly. He looked around and noticed his ice cream was gone, Kiba must have put it back in the freezer.

"Hey," Kiba's voice brought his weary attention to the doorway of the kitchen. The brunet was smiling sympathetically with a look of hope in his eyes that Naruto might be feeling better.

Naruto returned the smile as best he could, to be honest, he wasn't feeling as bad... for now he had locked his emotions within him and he'd let them out in a few days.

"What's cooking?" The blonde asked cheerfully, getting up off the couch.

"Miso ramen." And that one word brought Naruto rushing towards the kitchen, past Kiba, who promptly moved aside so he wasn't plowed over, and into a chair at his kitchen table. He wore an impish smile when Kiba turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. Ramen was the best thing to have first thing in the morning. Perhaps that was what he should have been eating early instead of stuffing his hips full of sugar and fat.

The brunet chuckled at Naruto's immaturity as he moved back into the kitchen area, returning to the ramen he was pouring into separate bowls.

The moment the cooked noodles were placed in front of the blonde, Naruto immediately dug into the food with the chopsticks that were already present at the table. Kiba had been well prepared. Of course, there was no doubt how well Kiba knew Naruto's habits by now and he always seemed to make the biggest effort to cheer the blonde up.

Kiba laughed, shaking his head at his strange friend but his eyes couldn't help but frown. He'd done it again. Naruto had switched his mood so rapidly, which he'd learned to be a signal that Naruto was bottling his emotions and attempting to forget about everything for a time. It made him appear as though Naruto was happier, back to his old self, but he knew that it would only make the inevitable worse come Friday. All that emotion that was restrained for the week would come back, all that once, full force, and Naruto would be left broken for the weekend, again.

"Naruto..."

The blonde looked up from his food, slurping in a noodle that hung from his lip. In a much less serious context, Kiba would have chuckled at this action, but he held a straight face.

"Why do you keep doing this to yourself?"

Naruto sighed and averted his eyes, as he usually did when Kiba brought this topic up. He normally would follow by making an excuse for him not to talk about it because they've already discussed this before, but this time Kiba cut him off.

"I know we've talked about this before but... but it's gotten so much worse for you. After all this time, after all this suffering, what is so good about Sasuke that keeps you to him. Why can't you see that after nearly a year, he's not going to leave her. He's using you, Naruto. And it's killing me to watch a bit of you die every week."

The blonde's head hung low, Kiba was unable to view his eyes or interpret his facial expression.

"Why, Naruto? Why don't you face the facts and realize how horrible he's been to you?"

Naruto didn't move. He didn't look up, he didn't make a sound. Kiba bit his cheek in frustration, "Why-"

"Hope..." He murmured in the softest voice that barely lingered on the Inuzuka's ear. Slowly Naruto raised his tear filled eyes and locked his eyes with Kiba's darkened, concerned ones. "I love him, Kiba. I know... I know he probably won't... but I have to hope. I need to. I need _him._ If I lose him..." He gave way to the tears that spilled from his blue eyes and buried his face in his hands, hiding his broken emotions from the world.

Kiba merely stared at him. He was disappointed with his response. He didn't want to keep accepting that Naruto was going to cling to a false hope that would never give him what he truly needs.

Moving over to the weeping blonde, Kiba kneeled beside him and stroked his hair soothingly. "So what?"

Naruto peered out at him with confusion through his fingers but didn't stop crying or lower his hands.

"So what if you lose him? You don't need him, Naruto. You don't. He doesn't love you, he probably doesn't even love_ her _either, but he certainly isn't going to give anything up for you. He's never going to make the same sacrifices you've made. If he really cared about you, he wouldn't let you break down week after week. He would be here now instead of me. You need to move past this or you're going to-"

"Going to what Kiba!" Naruto finally yelled, the tears staining his cheeks visible now that he removed his hands from his face. "I don't think there's a stage much worse that I can reach! The only thing worse than this is... having nothing..."

Kiba removed his hand slowly from the blonde's head, biting his lower lip. He didn't know what he could do. He just couldn't seem to get through to him.

"I... I don't want to be alone..." Naruto's voice had lowered to that of a whisper that gradually fell as he sobbed.

Suddenly the blonde found himself embraced and his tears were now soaking Kiba's t-shirt. The Inuzuka's hand stroked his hair soothingly. "Naruto, you're not alone. As long as I'm here you'll never be alone."

Naruto cried harder into Kiba's chest but didn't look up at him. He knew that his friend had been there for him all this time and that he'd always be here, but that wasn't enough. Best friend's were special and he knew that he'd be hopeless with Kiba around. But Sasuke... Sasuke was... different. When they were together, something just clicked. There was something in Sasuke's personality that matched him so perfectly to himself that he was unable to comprehend the idea that they'd never be together. He had to cling to the notion that they'd finally be together. Naruto had nothing left but hope. Hope that his perfect match - the one he loved so entirely, the one that he had given himself to so completely that he was able to be hurt this much – would realize his mistakes and leave his wife to be with the one he truly loved.

"Naruto please... this isn't good for you. Even if you happen to be alone after, it's better than suffering this much and grasping onto a false wish that will never come true."

Kiba felt Naruto wince and held him tighter. "I know it's hard to hear, but you know it's true. You have to realize that as much as you love him, he's not going to give anything up for you. He's established his lie of a life, and that's all he's able to have. A lie. Just like your relationship. So please, just give up and stop hurting yourself so much."

Naruto exhaled against Kiba's shirt which was now pretty wet from all his crying. He didn't want to agree to do all of that just now, but he knew he had to think this through. "I'm sorry for soaking your-"

"It's fine," Kiba said sweetly, "I don't mind, I'm used to it."

"Yeah... thanks for that."

Kiba smiled, pulling away and kneeling to be at the same level as his friend. "You know I love you, so I'll always be here for you, even when you finally crawl out of your helpless state and grow a backbone." He smiled at his joke as Naruto's expression fell to that of a glare.

"You're so lucky I love you too, dog breath."

Kiba's smile only managed to grow wider and cause Naruto's blue eyes to roll. This was such an odd friendship but Naruto was truly thankful to have it.


	5. Will

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or "Stay" by Sugarland

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Chapter Five:

So here he was again. Sitting on the floor and gazing out his living room window that had a perfect view of his driveway. Kiba had called him not even an hour ago, pleading with him to go out to eat or drink, something to get him away from the house and away from Sasuke. He asked Naruto to call Sasuke and tell him not to come over.

The conversation hadn't been long. For the most part the blonde had been silent, but he whispered, when Kiba was through begging and suggesting different alternatives, "Kiba... please let me deal with this..." And hung up the phone. The Inuzuka hadn't called him back yet, and Naruto didn't know whether to be glad or disappointed. It was as though, in a small way, Kiba was starting to give up on him... he couldn't bare to have it get so bad that Kiba would leave his life forever. He didn't know how he could survive without him... Naruto didn't think it possible.

Immediately his attention was brought to the window as he heard a car. However, the vehicle that pulled into his driveway wasn't Sasuke's black car, but it was an equally familiar car. The driver's door of the silver Sunfire swung open to reveal his best friend.

Naruto's eyes had already widened in astonishment, and partly due to anger as well, as he stood from his position and bolted to his front door.

"Kiba! What are you doing here?" Naruto yelled from the entrance, not stepping farther because he wasn't even wearing socks, also because Kiba was moving steadily closer.

"Keeping you from making more mistakes," The Inuzuka spoke shortly and attempted to shove past Naruto to get into the house but Naruto stood firmly in the way, refusing to move.

"No, Kiba, you can't come in. What are you thinking coming here? How could you-"

"How could I what?" Kiba snapped, "Care about my best friend so much that I want to keep him from-"

"From making his own mistakes!" Naruto shouted in his face, glaring darkly. "Kiba, I love you, but you are not coming into my house. You are going to leave now."

Kiba's expression softened from a demanding look to a more pleading one. "Naruto please, I don't want to see you get hurt anymore!"

"You don't think I know that already? Kiba... just let me make my own choices and suffer the consequences." Naruto pleaded as well, without lowering his guard.

"Who do you think suffers the consequences with you!" Now the brunet's voice rose in anger, "For nearly half a year I've had to comfort you. Ever since you told me what was going on and how he still hadn't left his wife. Ever since the first times I held you as you cried, I've been right here! Suffering through this with you and I don't think I can take it anymore!"

Naruto was taken aback and he felt as though he'd just been punched in the gut, because immediately he felt a dull pain reside there. "Kiba..."

"No, Naruto... I love you, too. But I can't deal with this anymore, it's hard enough as it is and if you don't end this soon... I'm not going to come around anymore."

The pain instantly spread up through his body, mimicking the feeling of being punched so hard in the chest your lungs momentarily lose the ability to function properly. Tears were forming in his eyes as he watched Kiba avert his eyes and shake his head.

He opened his mouth to call something to him as his friend turned and walked back to his car, but no words would move past his lungs. His voice had given up on him, just as Kiba was.

As Naruto stood crying silently on his doorstep, he watched as Kiba's car pulled out of the driveway and drove back in the direction of the city. He collapsed instantly to his knees once Kiba's car was out of sight, his legs had become too weak to hold him up... Exactly what he'd done to Kiba. His friend had become too weak to hold him up anymore. So now, now Naruto would have to hold himself up...

The blonde let out a loud sob. He didn't think it possible...

Twenty minutes later, after Naruto had moved himself into his kitchen, closed the door behind him and crawled into a ball next to the counter as he sobbed, he heard another car pull into his driveway. This time he was sure it was Sasuke's because the engine shut off and no one exited the vehicle.

Naruto wondered if Sasuke would be puzzled to not see the blonde in his usual location. He knew he had to get up, not to resume his routine. Fuck the routine, it was already ruined. But he didn't want his first encounter with Sasuke in a week to have the raven walk in and find him useless and pathetic on his kitchen floor.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto struggled to stand and turn to his sink. Once the water was running, he splashed it on his tear stained face, trying to wash the salt that still resided there from the dried tears. He choked out one last sob and shut the tap off just in time to hear Sasuke get out of his car. He could hear his footsteps. Strange that it was so quiet tonight... or perhaps it was because he was right next to his door tonight instead of in his living room listening to his heart beat with anticipation.

As he dried off his face with a small towel, the door opened to the right of him. His attention was immediately brought to the door and he looked like a deer caught in the headlights when his eyes connected with his lover's.

Sasuke appeared confused to say the least. He had never once been greeted by the sight of Naruto when he first walked in. This threw him off for a moment but he seemed to ignore it and closed the door behind him.

"Late supper?" Sasuke asked, but Naruto knew he was actually asking him why he was in the kitchen right now.

"Uh... not really. I just, had to finish washing dishes." Naruto lied, trying to seem casual. "I forgot about them for most of the week and didn't want the kitchen to be a mess."

Sasuke's eyebrow rose and for a moment Naruto didn't think he believed him. Then Sasuke moved forward to whisper on his sensitive ear, "Why? We're not going to be using the kitchen, are we?"

Chills went down Naruto's spine and he shivered. Normally this was a good thing. It was always a shiver of lust and Naruto would proceed to flirt back in much the same manner. However, tonight, Naruto felt nothing but an ache deep in his heart at the feel of Sasuke's breath.

Sasuke picked up on his almost instantly and leaned back to look the blonde over. Naruto could tell the sentence "What's wrong?" was on the tip of his tongue but it seemed almost ironic for Sasuke to actually ask that.

"Um... sorry... I don't think I'm feeling very well..." Again Naruto lied, averting his eyes. What was going on with him? Never had he started out this way. He would always push aside his pain and longing whenever he got to be with Sasuke and he would enjoy himself and the little time they had. Now all he wanted to do was cry. Cry and plead with Sasuke rather than kiss his passionately and melt into his body.

Sasuke didn't answer, just bit his lip. Naruto could tell that he was completely thrown off. The usual way of doing things had never once been interrupted before, not even if Sasuke was a few hours late because of work. Always, things had always been the same. As soon as Sasuke entered the house they would immediately go straight into flirtatious lover mode... but now it was as though they were an actual couple and had to deal with something other than sex. This time things were much different, and Sasuke didn't know how to handle this.

"Should I leave?" Sasuke asked, causing Naruto's eyes to widen. Never had Sasuke _asked_ to leave, he just did. After everything was finished, he would leave without discussing anything with Naruto to return to his wife.

What was happening? What had changed? Why was he thinking like this and why did his heart hurt so much right now? He bit his lower lip as his conversation with Kiba raced through his mind, as well as conversations with himself debating about why Sasuke did this to him. False hope... that was all Naruto had... not Sasuke... not the one he loved...

"Sasuke?" Naruto voice was low and solemn, and he didn't raise his head to look up into those endearing dark eyes. Tears had already formed in his blue eyes but he didn't notice.

He could tell his behaviour unnerved the man even more as he stood silent. Once it seemed like Sasuke was refusing to speak, Naruto lifted his head and looked him directly in the eyes. "Do you love me?"

Instantly Sasuke's facial expression fell to the emotionless state it always seemed to take on once their activities had ended because of that horrid phone call. When he spoke his voice was cold and somewhat threatening, warning him to stop, "Naruto... don't -"

"No! Sasuke... I don't..." Naruto choked on a sob as the tears rolled down his cheeks. "I don't think I can do this anymore..."

The Uchiha fell silent but continued to gaze at Naruto with emotionless eyes.

"You don't actually love me, do you?" The pain was clearly evident in his voice but somehow he managed to find the strength to voice this. It had taken him so long to come to terms with this fact, but now he finally had the nerve to say it aloud to the one that really mattered.

"Naruto-"

"Just answer Sasuke!" Naruto cried out. He knew he sounded angry, but he was desperate for the answer. He was positive he knew what it was, but he pleaded with the fates to prove him wrong.

Silence once again greeted the blonde and Naruto sobbed harder.

"Naruto, I... I don't know what's gotten into you. Why are you doing this?" Sasuke asked, trying to avoid the subject.

Naruto eyes widened in hurt. "Why? Why do you think Sasuke?" He yelled loudly enough to make a small impression of shock on the raven's features. "Every Friday you come here... only on Fridays... that's the only time I see you and I used to think it was worth it. I used to believe you. Every time you told me that you'd leave her and be in my arms. That you just needed a little more time... I _believed _you, Sasuke! I still want to... I want to so badly it hurts... it hurts so much..."

He paused as his tears overwhelmed him for a moment, the pain in his heart was growing but he managed to push it aside and continue, "...to share you with her and to know that I can never have you. To know that you don't want me the way I want you. You've been lying to me all along and you don't actually care for me. You don't care about how I feel, how much I long for you, how much I _cry_ over you!"

Sasuke finally spoke with something he could almost identify as begging, "Naruto, stop."

"I can't! I can't stop this! I can't stop myself from wanting you! Before... I couldn't stop myself from hoping... from clinging to your lies. I wanted so much to believe in you because all I want and need is you..."

"Naruto..."

"One year Sasuke... it's almost been one _whole_ year... How much longer would I have to wait? Just how much time do you need?"

Sasuke's eyes were now jumbled with a mix of emotions at Naruto's accusative tone. Confusion and anxiety were the only emotions Naruto was able to recognize but he didn't take that long reading them because he kept talking.

"I'm tired of waiting, I'm tired of being so lonely all the time. Sasuke... I can't take it anymore... I can't waste away anymore... I've put so much of myself into making this work, but I get nothing from you. You're not willing to sacrifice anything for me, are you?"

"No sacrifice?" Sasuke spoke up, his voice verging on anger. "I'm risking so much to do this!"

"No you're not Sasuke! You want to keep your public life perfect under society's rule. Your wife, your house, your job. But you don't want anyone to know about your _mistress_." Naruto hissed out the word as though it felt dirty and disgusting on his lips. "You don't want anyone to find out that you're fucking a guy in ass every Friday!"

Sasuke was taken aback by how irate and blunt Naruto was. Never had Naruto raised his voice so much in such a spiteful tone before.

"Your whole world would crumble if society found out you're gay wouldn't it?" He asked more rhetorically than anything else. "Guess what, that's exactly what my life has done. My life has crumbled away to nothing! All I do is cry and curl up in my misery. All because of you! I can't focus on my work, I can barely stand to be around people knowing how distressed I look. Even the people who care about me the most are giving up on me, all because I'm clinging to you and the non-existent love we share."

For once, Sasuke's eyes had averted. Did he actually feel bad? Was he finally showing sadness and remorse at how he'd been treating him?

"What are you saying, Naruto?" His voice was low and retained it's dispassionate tone. The last bit of hope he'd been clinging to slipped between his fingers and out of his grasp.

"I'm saying..." Naruto took a deep breath, working up the last of his will that was getting stronger. "I'm telling you that you can't give me what I need. I tried so hard to give you all of me, all the best, but you give everything to her. So stay... stay with her."

Sasuke eyes widened slightly, not noticeably to anyone that didn't know his body well, but they widened enough for Naruto to see the change. He'd finally realized the situation. "Naruto, you can't-"

"The next time you want to come here... don't." Naruto cut him off with a solid, steady voice. "I'm through with waiting. I'm done clinging to this pathetic excuse for a relationship and what little chance I had with being you. I'm finished listening to your lies. So go ahead, give everything to her, and forget about me... just like you do every other time you leave."

Sasuke seemed shocked to say the least. He probably never saw this coming, never thought that Naruto would grow a backbone and learn to stick up for himself and see through his pretty eyes. When he finally spoke, the soft tone of his voice confused Naruto.

"Naruto, please stop talking like this. Let's just go to bed." His voice soothed as he reached out his hand to caress the blonde's cheek.

On instinct, Naruto leaned into the touch, but more tears fell as he came to terms with what he was giving up. He was losing everything he'd devoted his life to for the past year. He would never feel this touch, never hear Sasuke's passionate voice, never shiver with pleasure under his body ever again. "I love you so much, Sasuke..."

Sasuke's features were relieved with this word but he quickly tensed back up.

"...But I can't live this way any longer..." Naruto moved away from Sasuke's touch and stared directly into his eyes with as much confidence as he could stir. "Please don't come here anymore."

"Naruto-"

"Sasuke. Go." It hurt him so much to say this, but his will at the moment was stronger than the dull pain coursing through his body.

Sasuke continued to stare at him with disbelief but moved forward to Naruto instead of back out the door. He was so close to Naruto and for some reason, Naruto couldn't get himself to move away as Sasuke leaned against his tense body.

His breath, along with the rest of his body, was shaking immensely as Sasuke brought his lips so close to Naruto's that his breath wetted the blonde's dry lips.

"You can't mean all this, Naruto."

Naruto struggle to swallow the lump that had lodged itself in his throat. Just as Sasuke moved forward to connect their lips, Naruto moved back, pushing his palms against Sasuke's chest.

"I mean every word. Please leave." His voice was firm as his eyes fixed on Sasuke's dismayed depths.

Sasuke stepped back, unsure of himself. Nonetheless, he turned towards the door, opening it without hesitating. Just as he was about to step outside, he stopped without looking back. "You're making a big mistake."

"At least I'm making it..." Naruto choked out as the raven closed the door behind him.

Naruto listened as Sasuke walked quickly back to his car and jumped slightly at how hard he slammed the car door. The engine started faster than it ever had and the car sped out of the driveway.

As soon as the screech from the tires against the pavement subsided, Naruto's legs gave out from under him and he collapsed to his original position. The pain in his heart overpowered his will which died instantly and all he could feel was regret and an ache that made his whole body shake with unrestrained tears.


	6. Aftermath

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or "Stay" by Sugarland

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Chapter Six:

Naruto woke up feeling groggy and numb. Only this time it was a physical numbness, as his arm had fallen asleep while he slept. Accompanying this loss of feeling in said limb was a dull pain residing in his hip, shoulder and back.

The blonde grunted in pain as he attempted to sit up from what he acknowledged as a cold floor. Looking around he observed his initial location to be on the cold, tiled floor of his kitchen, next to his counter. The exact same spot where he had curled up and cried... twice.

Naruto sighed at his pathetic life and ran his hand through his blonde hair. To pass out on one's kitchen floor definitely showed how together one's life was.

He struggled to stand and had to use the counter for support to lift his aching body off the floor. Instantly he found himself buried in his sink, heaving up what food he hadn't had since yesterday afternoon. Great, he'd made himself so miserable he was getting sick.

The tap was turned on by his hand that was currently functional and he washed out his mouth before splashing water on his face. He coughed one last time into the sink before shutting off the water supply.

Slowly he turned and looked at the clock on the other side of the room. It was seven in the morning. Just about the time when he would have normally woken up on the couch.

Looking out the small window in his door, he eyed the driveway. The empty driveway that he always refused to look at this early in the morning on this particular day. Before it represented the car that he wished was still there and the man he wished was still asleep in his bed, cuddled up next to him. But today, it represented a space that would no longer be filled by a certain someone... just like his heart.

He let his head rest against the window pane and he closed his eyes. Why was he still hurting so much? He'd finally accepted his fate and rid himself of the vicious circle he'd been trapped in with Sasuke... so why was he still suffering? Wasn't he supposed to be better? This pain should have stopped... not gotten worse... His heart ached with longing and his core felt empty save for the horrid pain.

Naruto pulled himself away from the door and stumbled out of his kitchen to his living room. He shuddered at the familiar sights that reminded him of his black haired lover... The window he waited at, the couch he'd sleep on Friday night because he couldn't bare to be in his room...

Immediately his eyes shifted to the doorway of his bedroom and suddenly his entire home felt repressive. It was like Sasuke's essence that was left in this house was surrounding him, suffocating him with what he could no longer have.

Fresh tears welled up in his eyes and he raced back to the kitchen, grabbing the phone from off the hook. Without thinking he let his finger dial the number and pressed the phone to his ear.

There were six rings until the person on the other line finally picked up, only for Naruto to hear mumbling, coughing, cursing, and other strange noises.

"Wah?" A very irritable Kiba shouted into the phone, obviously not happy at being woken up this early in the morning and still very drunk with sleep.

Naruto couldn't speak, his voice was lost in a rush of audible tears.

Kiba's concern was evident within a second, "Naruto, what's the matter?"

Though the blonde was happy Kiba's tiredness subsided as soon as he heard Naruto's broken sounds, that didn't allow him to control his vocal cords in the least.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Kiba's concern was growing, especially with the background noises of him shuffling about his bedroom and evident barking from his dog, Akamaru, who didn't sound happy to be woken up by his master's ruckus.

"I... he... and..." Were the only words that managed to escape his lips before his was yet again reduced to tears. He couldn't believe how pathetic he was at this moment. His right shoulder was pressed against the wall, as he was slumped against it, barely standing. His face and neck were soaked from the amount of crying in such a short time, and he clung to the phone with both hands as though it were his lifeline.

"Naruto, just hold on! I'll be right over. Don't go anywhere!" Kiba spoke fast and sternly, getting the point across to his broken hearted friend. It was obvious from all the sounds in the background that Kiba had been getting dressed in a rush with really only one hand available. Now it could be assumed that he was running through his house, Naruto heard a door open followed by wind.

"Okay Naruto, I'm going to be driving to you right now. Which means I need to hang up the home phone," The Inuzuka's voice, though soft and caring, was firm. It was like talking down a panicked victim trapped in a burning building, you needed to keep them as calm and clear-headed as you could.

Naruto only responded with a sob, he didn't want to be alone. He didn't know if he was capable of sitting there on his floor on his own without completely breaking down.

"Do you want me to call you on my cellphone?"

Thankfully Kiba sensed this feeling of anxiety, and Naruto took a moment to catch what breath he could before muttering, "Yea..."

"Okay, give me one sec, alright?"

"Mm..."

Kiba sighed as he hung up his land line, putting it back on the charger before grabbing his cellphone from the desk. He flipped it open and held down the "1" button until his phone automatically called Naruto's house. You have to love speed dial.

Naruto answered the phone immediately after the first ring, Kiba was surprised the first ring even finished in fact. It was obvious Naruto was muffling his cries, just in case it hadn't been Kiba that called him.

"It's alright, Naruto. It's me." This calmed the blonde down considerably, but he still continued to cry openly. "Don't worry, I'll be there soon."

Naruto nodded, not caring that he failed at telephone conversations and sighed loudly. He could hear a car down open and close, then the sound of an engine starting up. The next time Kiba spoke, his voice sounded far off.

"Hey Naruto, I put you on speaker phone okay? Can you imagine me getting yet _another_ ticket? All these tickets and the cops still use my experties." Kiba joked lightly.

Before all the chaos and the Sasuke, Naruto had been much more lively and to be honest, it was a great deal more fun to have him around. Naruto was humorous, playful, and always joking or mocking, but in a good way. Before Sasuke broke him, Naruto used to continuously tease Kiba for his bad driving skills and comment on how it was amazing how the cops still allowed him to train their dogs and even tag along on serious operations because he was the most experienced with handling the dogs. Kiba would retort that vehicles weren't his thing and he could drive circle around anyone on a dog sled. Naruto promptly agreed as Akamaru growled at him, protecting his owner's dignity he assumed.

Kiba sighed for two reasons. The first being because he missed the old times, and the second being because Naruto hadn't responded. The joke didn't make Naruto laugh or chuckle or even momentarily pause in his sobs. Normally something like that normally worked a little bit but this time... Naruto was completely out of it.

The drive was mostly silent, save for Naruto's sobs on the other line and the noise of the passing cars. Kiba was amazed at how many people were actually conscious enough to be driving this early in the morning. Needless to say, he rarely ever woke before 10 am, especially on a Saturday.

As soon as he arrived in the driveway, he grabbed his phone and began to talk Naruto through this appearance. He informed the still crying blonde that he was in the driveway, getting out of the car, walking to the door and once he had opened the unlocked door, Kiba finally hung his cellphone up.

Naruto wasn't paying attention to the doorway in the least, even though the door creaked as it opened. He was more concerned with the dial tone on the phone which made him drop the phone and cry out. Immediately Kiba was on the floor, by his side with his arms wrapped tightly around him. Naruto turned into him, gripping the chest of his shirt and crying into his shoulder. Kiba stroked his back and hair soothingly, coaxing him, pulling Naruto close enough to his own body so that he was pretty much in his lap.

There they sat for longer than Kiba could dare to recall. When the well which supplied Naruto's tears finally dried up, Kiba let out a sigh of relief. It took several minutes for the blonde to come up from his place on Kiba's chest and look the brunet in the eyes, even so Kiba still stroke his cheek soothingly and gazed back into Naruto's reddened eyes.

He didn't ask him anything, he just stared back silently, allowing Naruto to take his time. The blonde's breathing was slowly coming back to his control and when his normally blue eyes averted to the ground, Kiba knew he was going to be informed.

"I ended it..." His voice was barely a whisper but the Inuzuka heard it and had to suppress the joy that arose within him from those words. Finally it was over. Finally Naruto could actually live his life and not be confined to the shadows of Sasuke's life.

"I'm so prou-"

"Why Kiba!" Naruto cut him off so fast with a tone full of so much hurt and anger that Kiba didn't know what to do with himself. He merely sat there, stunned as Naruto yelled at his face. "Why did I do it? How could I push him away? Now I've got nothing left! I'm all alone!" The words brought refreshed tears to Naruto's eyes but they didn't overwhelm him like before.

"You're not alone, Naruto. I-"

"You don't count!" He was glaring wildly now, so much that Kiba was sure he hated him. "You told me to do this! You wanted me to break things off and now it's over! He's never coming back! All I have left is you! My friend! That's it!"

Kiba sighed, but he let Naruto take his anger out on him, even when his blonde friend began hitting him weakly in the chest. He wasn't causing any damage to him, and he knew it would help Naruto get this out of his system. So he remained motionless.

"I need him! I want him! All I have is you! Why did you do this to me? I want him back! I need him now! Please! Please... Kiba... please... I'm sorry... I... I..."

Naruto's voice trailed off to that of a whisper as he fell back into Kiba's chest, slowly losing consciousness. Kiba's arms enveloped him again, wrapping securely and protectively around his shoulders. He kissed the blonde's hair before picking him up in his arms and carrying the nearly sleeping man to his bedroom.

The room was dark. The curtains hadn't been pulled back and the sheets weren't disturbed in the least. Kiba shook his head and tried to imagine the last time Naruto slept in his own bed. Using one hand, he pulled the covers back and then cautiously placed Naruto onto the mattress. Instantly the blonde curled into a fetal position before Kiba could pull the sheets over top his body.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, stroking the hair of the blonde who curled himself into a ball in the center of the mattress, burying himself beneath the sheets.

Kiba exhaled an exhausted breath. So much chaos so early in the morning. He loved his friend dearly, and he was so glad that he'd finally taken the initiative and ended things with Sasuke. But this really did take a lot out of him.

"You're quite a handful," Kiba whispered to his sleeping friend, who's response was a mere twitch in his sleep. Nonetheless, he was glad he wouldn't have to spend his weekends trying to keep Naruto sane anymore. Now he would have to dedicate those weekends to getting him back out into the world.


	7. Heap of Nothingness

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or "Stay" by Sugarland.

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Chapter 7:

_Briing. Briiing. Briiiing. _

It had been the fifth time that phone had rang that morning and still he hadn't moved to answer it. It wasn't that he was sleeping because his eyes, though going in and out of focus, were wide open. It wasn't that he was lazy because his phone, which stared at him as it beeped and flashed and rang, sat on the coffee table just before his face within arm's reach. It also wasn't that he screening his calls because he didn't care who called him at the moment. He wasn't sick, he wasn't crying, nor was he physically injured.

You could call him now, if you will, dysfunctional because he isn't quite functioning correctly. How does on function correctly? Well to do so, one could assume at this particular time on a Monday morning, one who had a job working at a school, would be at that school teaching. Even if one wasn't going into work, one would call ahead and inform someone that they were to be absent. That way one wouldn't receive five-

_Briiiiing._

-six calls from the institution which one worked for. One would also pick up said phone upon the first ring and explain the situation if one forgot to call ahead. One would not be laying on a couch, fully clothed with an outfit worn for two days, staring into the abyss with absolutely no thoughts passing through their mind. It was like an empty, expressionless shell of a human. That was what he was.

The denial faze had passed. As had the crying faze. Next came the anger faze which hadn't lasted long. All that was left... was acceptance. Currently he was stuck between the anger faze and the acceptance faze. He was didn't want to accept it. If he didn't react or respond to anything, if he didn't think about anything, if he did nothing at all, perhaps be would become nothing? Nothing can't accept something because there was nothing to accept, everything was nothing, including him. That was what he was now, or at least what he wished he was.

The phone rang again and his blue eyes finally shifted to gaze at the talk button which flashed red in time with the ringer. He sighed loudly but didn't reach for the phone. These infernal people wouldn't leave him alone long enough for him to become nothing.

Naruto rolled over on the couch so that he was on his opposite side facing the back of the couch. He had never even thought to unplug the phone. Would have been a decent idea though.

_Brriiiinnnng._

That made him all the more glad that he didn't own an answering machine. That would be hell, and certainly enough to make him get off the couch and unplug both it and the phone. But he didn't have one. No voices were calling to him, just the constant ringing of his phone. He could tolerate that. It was always the same. That ringing sound never changed at all. Somehow he found comfort in this.

What he really needed to do was block the thoughts about the people who could be on the other end of the phone line. Iruka, calling to see why he hadn't shown up for work. Kiba, worried about him yet again and probably more so after receiving a call from Iruka wondering where the blonde was. He could probably expect Kiba's presence within his home at some point soon. Although Kiba was always busy on the weekdays. He was head of an animal clinic and was also played a large role in his family' business of training dogs. They trained guild dogs for the visually impaired, medical response dogs, but mostly the dogs were trained as police dogs. Nonetheless, he would show up at some time and all these things made it impossible for him to become a heap of nothingness.

Not to mention a certain other person on the line that Naruto had yet to accept as gone forever. The chances were slim but...

The blonde sighed yet again, stopping his thoughts before they ran away with him. Such a strange expression that was. Thoughts running away with you... as if thoughts could actually kidnap you, and then run for that matter. Under normal circumstances Naruto would laugh, but he didn't.

Yet again the phone ran at him, but this time the ringing finally got to him. It attacked his ears so badly that he had to cover them and close his eyes tight during the first and second ring. He couldn't take it anymore and turned swiftly to grab the phone and press the "talk" button before it could ring again.

As usual, he said nothing, just listened.

"Hello? Naruto?" A familiar voice called from inside the receiver.

"Mmm..." He mumbled, not caring how lifeless he sounded. That's how he felt, so why hide it?

"Naruto, finally! I've been calling you all morning! Where have you been?"

"...here."

"Why didn't you answer?"

Naruto sighed. He didn't know how to begin to explain his situation to his mentor. There was no way to sum everything up and say "I split up with my boyfriend because he wouldn't leave his wife." That sounded so... horribly stupid...

"...sleeping..." He lied, maintaining his terribly dead voice.

"Are you all right? You don't sound good." As usual, Iruka was extremely concerned for him. It was great that he had someone caring about him, but when you don't even care about yourself, why would you care that someone else is caring?

"I'm not feeling well..." Naruto mumbled yet again, by this time he was starting to lie absent-mindedly. It didn't matter to him anymore, just as long as he didn't have to face anyone it would be fine. "I want to take the week off."

Iruka was silent on the other line for a minute. "Naruto, I'm really sorry that you're sick but you have to remember your position. We need you to tell us this in advance. We have someone right now replacing you for today's classes but I don't know if I can give you the whole week."

Naruto let his head fall back against the couch and sighed as he spoke in a monotone voice, "Please Iruka."

Again more silence. It seemed like Iruka was chewing over this. Naruto was his favorite, they had been close for years so it was natural for him to pity the blonde that he practically brought up. But he was also his superior, which made this decision all the more harder.

"All right. I can give you the next two days off, but starting Thursday you need to be back at the front of your classroom. For now I'll get the newbie to substitute for you." Iruka resigned with a slight edge of frustration in his voice.

Naruto was glad of his compromise, not exactly what he'd wanted or needed but at least he'd get some time ... wait a second. "Newbie?" He asked, suddenly curious but he didn't express this in his sullen voice.

"Yeah, he just transferred here today. He's going to be filling in for Kurenai while she's on maternity leave, but since she isn't planning on leaving until the end of this week, we have him filling in for you."

"Oh." He didn't know what else he could say. He was thankful for Iruka taking care of him like this but... he couldn't express anything right now. His emotions felt like they had been captured inside a cage, trapped and out of his reach.

"Take care of yourself, Naruto. I'll see you Thursday morning." With that he hung up and Naruto let his arm go limp beside his head, not bothering to move the phone as the dial tone rang into his ear.

* * *

Banging on the door. Loud ringing. The beeping of the phone signifying it had been left off the hook for too long.

All noises that he wasn't used to hearing upon waking.

"Naruto!"

Well at least that one was a little more familiar, regardless of how far off it sounded. The blonde groaned loudly as he rolled over on the sofa, placing the phone back to its original location to make it shut up. He swung his legs over the edge of the coach and stood up to realize, as his right hand fell dead against his side, that his arm was asleep. Interesting.

The noises, banging, and hollering of his name didn't serve to quicken his pace as he shuffled to his kitchen where he was nearly knocked flat on his back the moment directly after he unlocked his door.

"Where the hell have you been?" Was yelled so close to his face that he felt the vibrations in his eyeballs.

"Couch." He stated simply, his voice as drone as ever, as though it explained everything and was even a worthy excuse.

"Fuck you, Naruto! Some of us actually worry about you when you don't show up to work!"

Naruto was actually taken aback and he tilted his head as he gazed into Kiba's blazing eyes. He was pissed. Seriously, genuinely, one hundred percent pissed off. And at Naruto at that.

"Sorry." Naruto mumbled, but he wasn't sure if he meant it or not.

Kiba just glared, darkly, so much that it almost scared Naruto. "Yeah fucking right. Asshole. Why the fuck should I be worried about your ass. Go ahead and off yourself, that would just solve everything right?" His sarcasm was difficult to detect under all the anger but it was there and Naruto was glad he could pick up on it.

"No... still wouldn't have him..."

Kiba sighed this time and rolled his head back angrily. "Naruto, we've been through this! You can't-"

"I know..." Naruto muttered, still looking Kiba in the eyes. Eyes that returned his gaze now because Naruto's voice was no longer monotone. He had emotion. Though it was solemn and lonely, it was emotional at least. "But I just want... I just need some time to myself..."

Kiba's eyes softened immediately. He could never stay mad at Naruto, that's the way it's been for years. However, Kiba knew he had to be firm and gripped Naruto's shoulders in that manner.

"Naruto... I'm trying to understand and give you time but... I want to help you. I know it seems like I'm rushing you and not paying attention to your feelings, but I know your feelings more than anyone else and you know that's true!"

Naruto averted his eyes, he felt ashamed for always treating Kiba like he did even though he was so kind and caring. Kiba had always looked out for him, listened to his troubles and was always here for his breakdowns. He was only trying to help and Naruto was treating him like an enemy.

"It's better for you to stop sulking. You need to get out of this house and move past Sasuke. He's only holding you back and if you keep brooding over him you'll lose everything. Your life has already been limited by him, your friends consist of me and Iruka and on occasion those two at the ramen place, and now you're skipping out on your job and not giving so much as a call to your superiors. How do you think that will help you to get better?"

Tears formed in Naruto eyes. He knew his friend was right, he had barely anything because of Sasuke and now that he didn't even have Sasuke... he was letting everything else he had slip away from him... or rather he was pushing them away.

"Kiba..." Naruto mumbled, glancing back into his fierce brown eyes, "I'm sorry... I know... I know I need to stop this... I just... it's so hard..." His tears were already becoming drops that fell from his face and Kiba didn't hesitate in scooping up his pathetic form and hugging him tightly.

"I know Naruto, but you have to try." He stroked Naruto's blonde hair that hadn't been washed since before he broke things off with Sasuke. "Go to work tomorrow. It will get better. I promise."

* * *

"Naruto?" Iruka's face the next morning was of surprise and terror. "What are you doing back already? Didn't I let you have until Thursday off?"

"Yeah I know, but I was feeling a lot better and couldn't bare to let all my students live without my wonderful teaching skills for a whole nother day." Naruto smiled gleefully at this mentor. It wasn't entirely fake today, but it did a good deal of effort that morning to crawl out of bed, shower and plaster on what happiness he could. Nonetheless, he was feeling truthfully better about his condition. Sitting around crying and attempting to cease to exist wasn't getting him anywhere so work was the next option. Perhaps he could bury himself into something actually productive.

Iruka was still horribly confused but he returned Naruto's smile with genuine happiness. "I'm glad to hear it Naruto! Great to have you and your ego back!"

Naruto laughed along with Iruka when the door to the staff room opened. Naruto's head instantly turned to great one of his fellow colleages when he was taken aback by a beam of red. His blue eyes could have turned into purple from how red this man's hair was. However, the red wasn't the only prominent feature about him. He had a very handsome face, piercing eyes that reminded him of someone he knew too well, and a tall, well-toned body. Not to mention his black casual suit with a red tie completed how stunning he appeared.

"Ah! Early as usual. Gaara, I'd like you to meet Naruto Uzumaki, the teacher you've been filling in for. Naruto, this is Gaara Sabaku, he's the newbie I was telling you about."

Gaara stepped forward to reach Naruto in two long strides with his hand stretched out. "Nice you meet you Mr. Uzumaki."

Naruto blushed immediately by how intense he found Gaara's strong character but as soon as he heard the "Mr" before his name he couldn't help but laugh and shake Gaara's hand enthusiastically. "Oh no please! Haha, just call me Naruto, formality is not necessary with me."

Gaara wasn't like the usual newbie that would blush at not being able to talk formally and feel awkward. None of that had fazed him. He just nodded shook his hand with a strong, confident grip. "Nice to meet you, Naruto."

"Mm... you as well..." Naruto managed to get out in his intimidated state. Though he wasn't necessarily intimidated, more like overwhelmed from Gaara's burning gaze that never left Naruto's figure.


	8. Date?

**Sorry for taking so long with this chapter. I ran into a little writer's block and had to sit down until 3 am to beat my way past it. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or "Stay" by Sugarland.

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Chapter Eight:

Naruto sighed loudly after the last student exited his classroom for the lunch break. Finally he was all alone and could just sit at his desk and _not_ smile. Before, fake smiles were just an everyday thing, it was tiring usually but today... after everything... it took so much more effort that Naruto felt like he was going to collapse. Which he promptly did, into his desk.

"Are you all right, Mr. Uzumaki?" A low, chilling voice called to him from the door to his classroom, startling the blonde.

He turned immediately to see the new teacher, Gaara, standing in there, gazing at him with those alluring eyes.

"I told you Gaara, just call me Naruto. None of the other teachers call me that. Hell even most of my students call me Naruto. I don't really do the whole formal thing." That sounded normal right? Not depressing at all, he hoped. He didn't want to give anything away to the new guy, it was bad enough some of the other teachers had caught on to his depression. Of course none of the new the reason and not one of them witnessed it to the extent that Iruka did.

"Naruto, then. Are you all right?"

"Yeah man, just tiring is'all. Gotta love the wild energy of teenagers, huh?" Naruto flashed Gaara a wide sarcastic smile, laughing afterwards. Though none of that served to lift the flat expression off Gaara's face. Perhaps he suspected something.

"Mm..." Gaara hummed, giving him a disapproving look before turning from the classroom door and disappearing down the hallway.

Yup... he definitely suspected something.

Naruto sighed loudly, tossing his head back in his comfy desk on wheels. Problem was... it was on wheels and this sudden motion caused his chair to roll back and his head hit the wall behind him. "Owww!" Naruto cried, thrusting his head forward to catch it in his hands, promptly nursing his injury with his fingers.

"As much as it pains me, I'm glad you see you're as lively as ever."

Naruto glared at the intruding, familiar voice, not removing his hands from his head. "Very funny Tenten."

"Oh, she's just joking Naruto. Are you okay? How did you hurt yourself?" Hinata's humored but concerned voice followed Tenten's as she entered the room, moving past her colleague to get to Naruto. "Do you need to go see Shizune? If you cut yourself she can disinfect you."

"No, no, Hinata. I'm fine really. I just banged my head a bit. No worries!" Naruto flashed her one of his bright smiles which promptly caused her to blush and back away from him.

"O-oh. Okay... that's g-great then!"

"Good or not, you're still sulking in your classroom. Come eat lunch with us before Hinata's face becomes a permanent shade of red." Tenten's comment caused Hinata's red face to glow like a ripe tomato and Tenten laughed as she ushered her younger colleague out the door, turning back to urge Naruto further.

Naruto let out a long sigh with a short laugh. At least he knew his fellow teachers cared for his well-being and took the time to try to cheer him up. Shaking his head, he pushed himself up from his dangerous chair that constantly threatened his life and followed his colleagues, who he also considered his friends, out into the hallway and down to the staff room to eat dinner.

* * *

Naruto was lead into the staff room and was greeted by several excited voices.

"The great and mighty Naruto has finally come back to join us." Came one half mocking and half jolly voice.

"Finally had the balls to return to our halls?" Another voice laughed with humour.

They all made cracks at Naruto's expense and he probably deserved it for keeping to himself for so long and moping about in his own classroom or other secluded places where he wouldn't have to be bothered by his coworkers. However, they were all light and everyone was smiling happily as they swarmed around him.

Once they all moved away to get back to their own lunch and start up new conversations about random stuff that happened on their weekends and what stupid stunts their stupid kids pulled in class.

"Your presence was missed, Uzumaki." Said the normally silent biology teacher, Shino.

Naruto hadn't been expecting him to say that but he smiled gratefully. It was strange to see that his presence in this school made such a difference, but he was happy affect the lives of his colleagues with his generally carefree, comic attitude.

"Thanks, Shino."

"I speak for everyone we work here with. Everyone has an affect on the people who are nearby. Yours has been positive. Without one person the world we live in would alter in some degree. Most here prefer the atmosphere you influence."

"Uh..." Now there was something much more Shino. Straight forward facts that are more or less impersonal. However, coming from Shino, that meant a lot. "Thanks a lot, Shino."

Shino nodded before moving past Naruto to get to the coffee machine. The strange thing about that was that Shino didn't drink coffee. Instead he pushed the lever for hot water and drank merely that without any additives. He was an odd, mysterious man. But like he said, the school would be different without one person and Naruto liked having Shino around.

Before Naruto could join anyone, a plate was thrusted into his hands. He gazed up to see Hinata smiling nervously.

"I made extra and thought you might like some."

Naruto smiled back very wide, and this time not forced. "Thanks Hinata. I love your cooking."

This comment, of course, caused the younger woman to flush bright red and retreat to a couch to sit next to Tenten and resume her meal.

Naruto watched her and laughed to himself. He looked about for a place for himself to sit and strike up a conversation with one or a few of the coworkers he'd avoided for the past week or so but found his attention drawn elsewhere. Off in the farthest corner of the staffroom the newest of the school's employees sat by himself in a chair. He was sitting rather stiffly in that chair eating something that didn't look entirely edible in Naruto's standards.

Being as sociable as Naruto was, he walked over and joined the lonely redhead who glanced up for a second before turning to his food.

"Hey there Gaara. How are you liking the school and what the hell are you eating?"

Gaara seemed confused at the speed the questions directed at him changed but he merely looked up to meet Naruto's gaze. "Gizard."

Naruto's eyebrow rose in what couldn't decide between disturbance and curiosity. "And is that some kind of delicacy according to different countries or something that I would rather not know the origins of?"

Gaara took longer than a moment to consider this question before once again speaking. "Perhaps your type of person would rather not know."

Naruto nodded, it was just as he expected. "Oh well, to each their own." He didn't mind anyone else eating weird things with odd names that looked like the uncooked innards of some poor unfortunate animal.

"What are you having?"

Naruto looked down at the meal Hinata had given him. He wasn't quite sure what it's proper name would be but it appeared to be some sort of meal consisting mainly of fish.

"I'm not sure really." Naruto leaned over and sniffed his food. "Smells like salmon."

Gaara just nodded. His eyes, however, remained fixed on Naruto's. They were piercing eyes. They reminded Naruto of Sasuke but Sasuke's weren't this intense. These eyes had something else, something more familiar to Naruto. They were filled with loss and a pain that resided somewhere in Gaara's past. They reflected so much about him, but left so much up to question. Why Gaara's eyes looked this way... Naruto couldn't begin to guess.

"So how are you liking the school?" Naruto asked, unsure of how to carry on a conversation with this very silent person. However, he was too intrigued to just give up.

"It's a nice school. Good education system. Your students are very attached to you."

Naruto chuckled lightly. "Yeah, they're a high energy bunch but we get along pretty well. I'm more of a kid than anything else so the kids are easy to relate to."

Gaara again merely nodded but he paused for a moment. "You are energetic and childish, but you've faced too much to be considered a child."

Naruto averted his eyes down to his food, pretending to be interested in his food which he assumed he should start eating. Gaara could read people easily... of course, at this moment, Naruto was very easy to read. His eyes reflected how hurt he was and he was trying to hide the obvious, which only served to add to the idea that he was hiding something that was affecting him horribly.

They were quiet for a few minutes and Naruto glanced back over to see that Gaara had resumed eating his strange food. Naruto proceeded to do the same with Hinata's homemade salmon. It was actually very delicious, Hinata was such a wonderful cook. If Naruto weren't gay, he would probably be interested in her. Of course he would have to get her out of that shy bubble.

"So how do you like working with Kurenai and her class? Think you'll be able to take over?" Naruto was beginning to feel awkward, but he was still too interested in Gaara to leave. He wanted to know more about Gaara and why he seemed so similar to him. Had he gone through the same thing Naruto had put up with for nearly a year? Had he been the one cheated on? Or perhaps it was something completely different.

"You mean Mrs.-"

"Please stop being so formal." Naruto laughed, it was strange to see someone so formal around this school. All the staff called everyone by their first names. Hell even most of the kids called most of the staff by their first names.

"You need to loosen up a bit if you wanna stay round here." Naruto had been kidding, of course, but Gaara didn't seem to take it in a joking manner.

"You're all very close."

Naruto regained his smile, looking up to face the redhead once again. "Yeah. This is a pretty tightknit staff. Most of us have worked together for a long while. We're like a strange family."

"But you haven't worked here for as many years as others have."

"No, but I went to the same school as the other younger staff here. Hinata and Shino. High school though, not university. We were relatively close friends. It's not the smallest town but it's still not a city so most of us are pretty close. Not to mention Iruka is kinda like my old guardian, so I knew a bunch of the older teachers before I ever started teaching here."

"I see. It's good to see so many people this close to each other." Gaara's eyes shifted for a split second to the other staff members who were talking, laughing and eating together. It would be a very nice sight for someone who wasn't used to working in this type of environment.

It was then that something hit Naruto. Perhaps Gaara wasn't used to this environment at all, let alone working in it. He was a very secluded person and it didn't appear that he was very social. Perhaps he wasn't familiar with people who were so... familiar with one another.

"Did you grow up in a city?"

"No."

Naruto was a little taken back by the quick and short answer. "Oh... so was it a-"

"It's a town about as big as this one." Gaara spoke shortly again. It didn't seem to Naruto that Gaara enjoyed talking about his past.

"Oh, okay." Naruto bit his lower lip. He didn't quite know how to carry on this conversation. Gaara wasn't exactly a conversation killer but he was handicapping it with relative ease.

"You're very popular here." Gaara commented.

"Well... I guess you could say that. Lots of people like me. I'm a people person." Naruto smiled brightly.

"Were you always?"

That question faltered the smile on the blonde's lips for just a moment. "Well... no... no you couldn't say that I was. In fact, when I was younger I was close to being hated. I was a prankster... always wanting attention. I was the town nuisance." He grinned slyly but it was slightly strained. It was difficult to bring up his past as well. Something else they had in common.

"I see. That seems like something you'd so."

"What?"

"Pranks. You seem like someone who would be good at pranking."

This made Naruto grin sincerely. "Yeah, I'm real good at pranks. You're talking to the master right here. Wouldn't want to mess with me."

Gaara gave him somewhat of a smile. The most of a smile that Naruto had seen of him yet.

"What were you like as a child."

The moment those words were out of his mouth and that certain look passed over Gaara's eyes... Naruto knew he shouldn't have asked that. The look in Gaara's eyes was so terrifying and sad that Naruto felt his breath instantly refuse to move and it threaten to choke him.

Naruto tried desperately to swallow the lump in his throat as he turned back to his nearly eaten food. He tried to look anyway besides the redhead.

"Alone."

Naruto instantly gazed up at that word. It nearly shocked him because he hadn't expected an answer.

"I was alone as a child."

That was all he said before he finished eating the last bite in his lunch container.

Naruto continued to stare at him. He couldn't take his eyes off of him now. It was like his mind overloaded at that moment and he couldn't quite think straight.

Gaara looked back at Naruto, locking his eyes with the blonde's blue ones. He appeared mildly confused at Naruto's reaction but he said nothing and had no distinctive facial expressions.

It took a few breaths of a moment before Naruto was able to speak and he did so while maintaining eye contact with the redhead. "So was I."

They both were merely staring at each other now. Right into the other's eyes and they were both silent.

"Now what are you two so serious about?" Tenten's annoying voice broke in. She could always find the right moments to butt in.

"Just getting to know the new guy." Naruto replied, breaking eye contact with the redhead to gaze up at the intruder.

"Expect you to be the welcoming committee." Tenten smiled, she seemed patronizing at times but she was a really great person. Very nice and friendly but she'd tell it like it was, which Naruto liked about her. "You're a little late though since he was filling out for your absence."

"Yeah... thanks for that Gaara."

"It was nothing. They assigned me to your class since Mrs... Kurenai hasn't left yet."

Naruto smiled when Gaara managed to keep calling Kurenai by her first name instead of reverting back to formal conduct. He was getting the hang of things around here.

"It's nice to see you getting along." Tenten smiled sincerely before placing her hand on Naruto's shoulder and squeezing gently. "It's good to have you back."

In her eyes, Naruto knew she meant it and he nodded back to her genuinely. She gave one last flash of a smile before leaving the two alone again.

Naruto checked his watch. Lunch was almost over. He should be getting back up to his classroom and get back to grading before his students returned from their lunch hour.

"Well I should get back to work." He said this as he looked about. Half the people in the staff room had already left and a quarter of those remaining were getting ready to leave. As Naruto stood up to leave his wrist was caught and he automatically turned back to see Gaara staring up at him.

"What's up?" Naruto asked in a voice he tried to make sound as casual as possible, but to be honest, he wasn't all that calm having Gaara's hot palm wrapped around his arm. Something about Gaara's touch made his pulse race faster and right now, with Gaara's hand dangerously close to one of his pulses, he feared the redhead might discover this and find him weird.

"Are you doing anything tonight?"

Blue eyes widened and Naruto looked at Gaara in such a way that you would regard a man that just flashed you. You don't register it immediately and you're left utterly stunned and confused, wondering "Did I just see what I think I just saw?" That was exactly how Naruto felt. He was beginning to wonder if his ears were playing tricks on him.

"Um... nothing?" He spoke unsure of his words. He wasn't positive what the best way to respond to this situation was.

"Do you want to go somewhere after work? For supper." Gaara added, in case Naruto got the wrong impression of him. Of course, Naruto didn't think it would be possible to take Gaara the wrong way and believe he was just trying to get him to his house for a good lay.

"Um... sure. Why not." The words stumbled out of Naruto's mouth and he offered a nervous, uncertain, awkward smile before Gaara nodded and released his grip on the blonde's wrist.

Naruto nodded back to him, turning to leave the room. He licked his lips nervously as he opened the door and gave an awkward glance back at the redhead who was staring after him with those same intense eyes. His eyes shifted awkwardly before he offered yet another unnerved smile as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

On the other side of the door, Naruto let out a long, heavy sigh. His eyes widened yet again and he covered his mouth. He was pretty sure, as he walked instinctly back to his classroom, that he was in a state of shock. Gaara had asked him out. Another person, who reminded him so much of Sasuke while at the same time being so different from his ex-lover, had asked him out. A man asked him out without any secrecy. It was as though Gaara had nothing to hide and didn't care. Could it be that he found someone who was open about his sexuality? Someone who wasn't ashamed?

Somehow, without realizing it. Naruto had made it back to his classroom and dropped into his desk chair. He stared blankly at the class full of students who had been waiting for him to arrive to start teaching class. Glancing at his watch he realized he was a few minutes late for his own class. He blinked slowly, cautiously, trying to think. Where the hell had he been walking to take this long to get back to his classroom?

"Ugh... Naruto... are you okay?" One of his students asked.

"I don't know..." Naruto answered honestly.

"Does that mean class is cancelled?"

"Don't push your luck." Naruto replied without thinking. He said this sentence constantly to his students because they thought of his as also their friend, so they tried to get out of many things.

He let out one last exhale before returning to the real world and starting his lesson. A man had asked him out in the staff room of the school they worked in together. Naruto had said yes... He had said yes to a date with a man he worked with.

Chalk broke against the blackboard as this thought hit him hard. He agreed to go on a date with a man in public. This was something he'd never done before. He met Sasuke in a night bar for gay guys, everything was confidential. They met at Naruto's house and only Naruto's house, never anywhere else. Everything as a secret and private. He'd never been on a real date... with a man at least. Truth be told he hadn't been out with a woman either, not even girls. He'd only been on group dates to the movies where a bunch of his friends all went out and he was 'forcefully' paired up with a girl. This was back when he was still closeted and his friends tried to hook him up.

What the hell was he supposed to do on a date? And with a guy? Naruto felt his blood run cold in anxiety. Great... now something else he had to worry about until the end of the day. His marking would never get done at this rate.


	9. Moving On

**Okay, I'll say this now... I do not hate Sakura. I'm getting a lot of "I HATE SAKURA FOR BEING SASUKE'S WIFE" anger... that isn't the reason I made her Sasuke's wife in this story. I just had no other female characters that would fit that role that I can write, not to mention it isn't the wife's fault (no matter who it is) that Sasuke is an ass and not being with Sasuke. I personally have absolutely no problem with Sakura as Sakura or as Sasuke's wife. She is a decent character in the anime/manga who becomes really cool after she cuts her hair off and matures because in the beginning she was annoying as hell but she gets better. As the wife... well it isn't her fault her husband is gay and was cheating on her with a man who's heart he destroyed. Just figured I'd let you guys know haha. I'm also sorry for taking so long to update but I've been in a rut with this story. I'll tell you all this... I do not ever drop stories before they are finished. I will never stop writing this story, I will complete it, even if it takes a while.**

**Also! I apologize ahead of time for any out of characterness with Gaara. I'm molding him to fit the story but trying to mantain as much of his original personality as I possibly can... of course I haven't seen the anime or read the manga in well over two years so... I'm a little rusty on characters like him which I don't read or write about often. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or "Stay" by Sugarland**

* * *

Chapter Nine:

Naruto had spent the rest of the afternoon fidgeting in front of his classes. He was lucky he didn't had a free period that afternoon to grade papers because that wouldn't have gone well... as in it wouldn't have gone at all. He didn't know how to focus he was so nervous about this date. What did you do on a date? What did you talk about? Then there was the question of Gaara... what the hell could he talk about to the stoic Gaara? He was so... mysterious and complicated. Not to mention the fact that they were both men. Would people stare and be disgusted? Would they just assume they were either two friends or coworkers out for a friendly meal?

That brought on a whole new idea that perhaps this was only a friendly meal between coworkers. Maybe Naruto was getting all worked up because of nothing. He had no way of knowing that Gaara was gay like him and interested in him. There was just something about the expression of his eyes. Something that set something off in Naruto and he found himself hoping that this was a date and that Gaara was interested in him. This could be a whole new start for him... he could finally move on. Kiba would be proud of him.

The bell rang and Naruto damn near jumped out of his skin. He let out a long sigh as he heard a few desk chairs and feet making for the door but after a couple seconds he turned, confused, to see at least twelve of his students still seated. He rose his eyebrow questioningly at them.

"Are you alright?" One in the front finally spoke up.

"Yeah Konohamaru, I'm fine..." Naruto sighed, leaning back against the blackboard. "You all should head out. Class is over. I'll see you all tomorrow morning."

They all stared at him a little while longer. They seemed genuinely concerned about him. He didn't blame them. He was so agitated and distracted, he was barely in a fit condition to teach. Strangely enough, he hid depression much better than... whatever this feeling was. Perhaps that was because he was used to being depressed and not... whatever this feeling was. Or it could be the fact that he couldn't define this emotion at all. Not in the slightest.

Finally the left over students rose from their seats, bags in hand and walked towards the door. Konohamaru watched him intensely as he passed by Naruto. Naruto looked back, smiling reassuringly although he probably wasn't succeeding in convincing the boy he was all right. Konohamaru shook his head as he exited the classroom. It was obvious the boy was worried about him and was disappointed that Naruto wasn't confiding in him, but Konohamaru had to get used to the fact that they were teacher and student, not old friends like they used to be.

Before Naruto had gone to high school and then onto university, he had treated Konohamaru like an apprentice in the world of pranking. They were rather close and even as Naruto grew up he still treated Konohamaru like they were on the same level, teasing him about his age on occasion. Now that Naruto was teaching the boy, things had to change a little bit inside the classroom... or so Naruto was convincing himself just now.

He sighed and settled back in his desk, checking his watch. He wondered what time Gaara would be done. He guessed that the redhead was going to come by his classroom to pick him up, but he didn't know what time he was going to come and get him.

Cracking his knuckles, Naruto started to work on the papers he still needed to finish grading. There weren't many so he didn't expect him to take too long.

He was about half way through the second one when he heard a knock at his door and glanced up from his work.

Gaara was standing there looking as expressionless as always.

"Hey Gaara, I'm just finishing up some grading." Naruto forced a smile onto his face, faking it well, as he glanced up at the redhead.

"I'll wait until you're finished." He spoke simply, moving into the classroom and pulling up a chair in one of the desks closest to the front.

Naruto gulped and nodded as he entered, forcing his head to look back down at the paper. Shit, now he wouldn't be able to concentrate properly... looks like one kid's grade is going to be higher than it should be.

* * *

The final essay was graded with an A minus. It had only taken Naruto thirty minutes to finish his work because he skimmed over the last few essays and gave out very few comments. He straightened out the pile of graded papers, placed them in a folder to be put in the top drawer of his desk.

With a sigh, he stood up and looked to see that Gaara's peircing eyes were locked on his person, they probably hadn't left him since Gaara had walked into the room. It was haunting and yet exhilarating at the same time.

"Are you ready?" The redhead asked without standing up.

"Yeah," Naruto forced a bright smile onto his lips, "everything is done, let's go!"

Gaara nodded, standing up and walking over to the door in step with Naruto, who grabbed his jacket from the chair next to the door.

"So where are we going?" Naruto asked, hating the silence that seemed like a permanent thing with Gaara.

"Do you like fish?"

"I love fish!" Of course, Naruto loved pretty much anything with a taste, but fish was up there on the list somewhere just below ramen.

"Good. Shall I drive, then?"

"Um... I guess you could. You'd have to drive me back to get my car though."

"That's not a problem."

Naruto nodded and smiled as they exited the school and walked into the teacher's parking lot. Many of the cars were gone, but at least half were still here. Naruto's car was parked over in the left corner but the blonde was looking around for a car that he didn't recognize. He spotted a beige truck that he hadn't seen around before and Gaara led him right to that vehicle.

It was a nice truck, well taken care of, a few scratches here and there but that was about it.

"Nice truck," Naruto commented as they approached it and Gaara unlocked the doors.

"Thanks. I repaired it myself."

"Really?" Naruto's eyes beamed. He didn't know why but he always thought mechanics were hot. Really anything that left a man sweaty and hot was... hot in the blonde's opinion.

Gaara nodded, opening the door on the passenger's side.

Naruto tilted his head and looked at him with curious eyes. "Huh, you're a real gentleman Gaara. Very formal."

"I'm sorry." Gaara apologized, moving away from the door.

Naruto realized his mistake, he'd already scolded Gaara for treating him too formally. "No, it's good in this situation. Gentlemen are nice to have around."

The smallest hint of a smile graced the redhead's lips as Naruto climbed into the seat of the truck. The door was closed for him and then Gaara moved around the truck to get into the driver's seat.

"Are you going to tell me which fish restaurant we're going to?" Naruto asked as the redhead started up the truck.

Gaara glanced over as he pulled out of the parking lot, and then shook his head.

Naruto sighed, "So mysterious."

* * *

"Red Lobster!" Naruto exclaimed as Gaara pulled into the parking lot. "You've gotta be kidding me! I never get to go here!"

Gaara just smiled subtly yet again and continued to maneuver around the parking lot to find a free spot. Naruto couldn't help but think to himself that he wanted to try and get a _real_ smile out of this man. Not to mention how curious he was about the redhead's choice of restaurants. People generally don't bring someone they consider just a coworker to such a nice place.

Finally they parked and as Naruto descended from the truck, he looked down at his attire. He wasn't exactly dressed for a date at a place like this.

Naruto felt his nerves grow more and more as they approached the doors and he couldn't stop fidgeting with his fingers when they walked in and Gaara started talking to one of the employees.

"Your seats have been reserved, right this way."

Naruto took a deep breath as they followed the waiter down towards the back area in a secluded area that appeared to be made for couples.

"Here are your seats," The waiter said, placing two menus down on the table. "Someone will be back to take your order shortly."

"Thank you," Gaara nodded as the waiter turned to leave and then took his seat across from Naruto who had already sat down.

Naruto looked around and noticed that there weren't many people in this area of the restaurant and those that were present were only couples.

"Did you... um... reserve these exact seats?" Naruto asked, his voice clearly expressing how nervous he was.

Gaara merely gazed curiously at him for a moment. "What's the answer that you want to hear?"

Naruto stared blankly at the redhead. That question through him off guard. He wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to hear. It was killing his nerves to think that he was possibly on a date in an intimate part of a restaurant but he didn't know if it was because he didn't want this to be a date, or if he was just unnerved to be out on his very first date.

He glanced down, unable to look Gaara in the eyes as he thought this through. It was the first date that he'd ever been on... ever... and it was with a guy. That was natural since he was gay but after living his life in secret for so many years and then having to deal with being the "other woman," he lost all his ability to think clearly about this.

It was obvious to him that he found the redhead attractive. He had an amazingly sexy body, from what he could see, his face was beautiful and those peircing green eyes... they were so familiar to him and yet... so different from the ones he thought he knew so well. They reminded him of Sasuke's eyes... the man he loved with all the pieces of his shattered heart. They were so serious, so dark and mysterious, and yet they were all those things in a completely different way from how Sasuke's eyes were. Was that the only reason he was so attracted to Gaara? The similarities that he and his... ex... lover shared?

"I... I think I would be very nervous if you said you did pick these seats," Naruto spoke, his voice hush, "but, I think I would be disappointed if you said you hadn't." He added, finally looking up into Gaara's eyes that were staring straight at him.

Naruto felt chills run down his spine from how intensely Gaara's eyes were when they connected with his own blue ones, but that was nothing compared to how his heart jumped when the redhead offered his first, real smile.

"Well then, if that's settled. What do you want to eat?"

Naruto blinked blankly at what he assumed to be his date. He couldn't understand this person. He was so different. First he was the dark silent type and now he was giving him a sly smile as he flipped through his menu.

"Um..."

"Get whatever you want." Gaara assured him.

The blonde didn't know what to think anymore but he flipped through his menu nonetheless. Everything looked so delicious.

"So... um... did you pick these-"

"The Lobster and Crab Bake looks good don't you think?" The redhead spoke without looking up from the menu which his face was currently buried in.

Gaara was deflecting his question. Naruto was astonished that the man was putting that much effort into evading the question.

As Naruto gazed stupidly at the man who had eyes for the menu only at that moment, he wondered whether or not he should try asking him one more time. His intuition told him that Gaara would just divert the conversation once more but eventually, if Naruto asked enough times, Gaara would have to confess.

"So um..." Naruto paused, he was unsure of his actions. He didn't know how the other would react to this constant interrogation. Would he be angry that Naruto wouldn't drop the this? Or would he possibly be too embarrassed to admit the truth?

"What would you like for a starter? I'm not that hungry. Do you want to share?" Gaara finally looked up from the menu and stared into Naruto's blue eyes.

There was nothing threatening about the eyes, so Naruto didn't think he would be angry about Naruto's persistence. Nor were they pleading him to stop talking about it. Naruto didn't know what to make of this expression. It wasn't stoic at all. He seemed more... intrigued than anything else.

"Uh..." Naruto glanced down at his own menu and for once actually looked at what this restaurant had to offer. Gazing through the menu he focused on the first plan looking starter. "How about Mozzarella Cheesesticks."

"That's boring." Gaara countered instantly. "It's a seafood restaurant. Let's get Crispy Calamari."

"Yeah, sure." Naruto agreed without thinking. He might have been too afraid to disagree with Gaara's choices, he wasn't entirely sure about that himself. Nonetheless, Naruto enjoyed trying new food and he didn't believe he'd ever had calamari before so this could be interesting.

"Are you both ready to order?" The waiter returned and Gaara nodded without asking if Naruto was ready.

"Yes, we'll have the Crispy Calamari to start. I'll have the Lobster and Crab Bake." He glanced over at Naruto.

"Oh um... yeah I'll have the Wood-Grilled Lobster, Shrimp and Scallops." Naruto was nearly startled, he was lucky he actually had picked out what he wanted before Gaara called on him.

"All right, and what would you two like to drink?"

"Could I get a Biscayne Bay Breeze, please?"

"Certainly." The waiter nodded, although there was a strange look in his eyes.

Naruto was also a little curious at Gaara's choice of drink. Though he had to admit he had his eye on a similar drink.

"And for you sir?"

"The Mango Mai Tai, please."

"I'll be back with your order when it's ready." Once again they were left alone as the waiter left with their menus in hand.

"So..." Naruto looked up to see that Gaara was staring at Naruto once again, only this time he looked even more intrigued than before.

"Interesting drink choice." A smirk was tugging at those expressionless lips.

Naruto blinked blankly before furrowing his eyebrows. "You ordered one first."

"It's good to have something to drink after work."

"But teaching isn't that stressful... and guys don't normally drink these kind of drinks..." Naruto was nearly mumbling by the end of that sentence because he knew that by saying this he was outing himself as well as Gaara... if Gaara had anything to be outed about.

"You're being very stereotypical, Naruto."

Naruto averted his eyes. He couldn't look into Gaara's intense green ones any longer. It was as though they were burning into him and seeing through his shield. It was a very weak shield with quite a few dents and holes, but he was seeing through it nonetheless.

Silence followed after that. An awkward silence that stretched on. Naruto bit his lip nervously. It had been too long to finish talking about the drinks or what the drinks might represent in them both. However, it wasn't as though Naruto had a topic to move onto. He'd never been on a date before... ever. He had no idea what to talk about or how to go about continuing a conversation if Gaara brought one up, he was far too nervous to think clearly.

Naruto opened his mouth to say something, he wasn't entirely sure what it would be at that moment, but he had to attempt to say anything to end this grating silence.

"Why did you become a teacher?"

The blonde was startled by Gaara's sudden voice and gazed up to meet his eyes.

"Uh... well... it was the only thing I could do."

Gaara's eyebrows furrowed. It was obvious he wasn't satisfied with this short answer.

"Um... Iruka. He's more than just my mentor. He pretty much raised me. Myparentsdiedjust after I was born and he lost his parent's in the same accident... he was drawn to me because of that, I guess. Ever since I was a baby, he's been there for me. I suppose, it was only natural that I would grow to become the same thing he did."

Naruto stared into the intense eyes which seemed to soften the slightest bit. It was almost unnoticeable but to Naruto, who was used to seeing eyes nearly identical to Gaara's, it was easy to see the smallest of changes.

"And you get to corrupt the minds of tomorrow, so it's a great job!" Naruto added with a cheeky grin. Perhaps the softness in the eyes made him more comfortable to actually be himself and throw in jokes like he normally did when he was out with friends or even with... someone else.

A smile twitched on Gaara's lips. Though he didn't reply verbally.

"So why are you teaching?" Naruto asked and then added, "No offense but you don't really seem like the type."

Gaara's face grew much more serious than it had been. He must have been anticipating the question but Naruto wasn't entirely comfortable with the violent switch between calm and humored to dark and disturbed.

"Here are your drinks."

The waiter's sudden presence made Naruto jump up in his seat. He blushed immediately at the subtly raised eyebrow on the waiter in response to the odd reaction.

"Thank you." Gaara nodded as the waiter placed their drinks on the table and left once again.

Gaara brought his Bay Breeze closer to him and instead of drinking out of the straw, he brought the edge of the glass to his lips and drank a good amount of it.

Once Naruto gained his composure, he brought his drink closer to him but, unlike the redhead, he drank slowly from the straw. He'd never had a Mai Tai before, it was actually pretty good.

"When I was a kid,"

Naruto cautiously looked up to follow the redhead's serious yet sad voice. The redhead was staring down at his drink, swirling it with the straw, deep in thought.

"I was bullied badly. I was shunned because my motherdiedgiving birth to me."

Naruto's heart skipped a beat. That sentence hit home. It was so close to the reason why he had been shunned from his community.

"My father blamed me. People thought I was a monster because I grew up emotionally inept. If people would have taught the children and adults of my town that it isn't the baby's fault if a mother has complications during labor than I wouldn't have been bullied as much."

Naruto gazed at the redhead with soft, sensitive eyes. He understood him completely. There was so much emotion built up inside him from everything Gaara had said because of how closely it resembled his own past.

"Maybe you thought if you could teach kids the right way to treat others, you'd prevent something like that from happening to another kid?" His question, though phrased as a question, was much more of a statement than anything.

Gaara lifted his head and met Naruto's blue eyes. He smiled slightly and Naruto smiled back before reaching out his hand and placing it over top of the hand Gaara was using to hold the base of his glass.

"Your appetizer, sirs." The waiter interrupted their sweet moment with an almost harsh voice.

Naruto jumped once again and impulsively retracted his hand, folding both of them in his lap under the table.

"Thank you," Gaara spoke in a sinister tone that suggested he was very unhappy about the intrusion.

* * *

"That was amazing, Gaara! Thank you!" Naruto smiled happily as they walked out of the restaurant.

Gaara merely smiled back with a satisfied smile.

Over the course of the evening, Gaara had grown to an actual smile. It wasn't wide or filled with teeth but it was a smile nonetheless. They had talked about many things, most of the past had ended with the teaching question, however.

Naruto talked about his university life, his life with Iruka, what it had been like for him teaching at their school, his hobbies which included martial arts and eating ramen, and just about everything else he was interested in. Gaara talked considerably less than Naruto, especially since Naruto rambled an awful lot and would talk about the same topic as long as he had information about it. Gaara didn't seem to mind that at all, he merely watched the blonde and nodded along to the story. Occasionally he would offer a comment of his own but rarely.

Naruto did ask a few things about the redhead. He didn't really ask where he was from or why he had moved here since Gaara had previous stated that he had gone to a university far from his hometown to get away. It was only natural that Gaara wouldn't want to stay in a place that treated him badly. At least Naruto had some people who sincerely cared about him that made him want to stay living here but it didn't sound like Gaara had anyone that special.

Naruto also asked what Gaara's hobbies were and was interested to find that Gaara was a sand artist. He created sand sculptures and was even into blowing glass. He told Naruto that he would show him some of his best glass work sometime and the pictures he'd taken of his sand sculptures. It was an intriguing hobby for someone like Gaara... at least Naruto had never imagined that a person with his personality would be into doing something like that.

Funny enough by the time they had gotten their meals, their waiter had changed. He must not have liked Naruto and Gaara's display of affection, if you could call it that.

At the end of the meal, Gaara insisted on paying, or rather he grabbed the bill before Naruto could glance at it and kept it in his pocket until they got to the front counter. Naruto asked if they could split it. He was uncomfortable having someone else, especially a guy, pay for his meal, though he didn't say that out loud. Gaara simply turned and with eyes that left no room for question, said that he would cover it since he was the one who brought Naruto here.

* * *

"Gaara," Naruto stopped as he was getting out of Gaara's truck and into the staff parking at the school, "thanks again for asking me to dinner. I had a good time."

Gaara nodded and smiled, "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Yeah... um..." Naruto hesitated, he was still very nervous about this whole thing and still uncertain if Gaara had asked him out on an actual date. "We should do this again sometime."

Gaara's soft eyes hardened slightly which caused concern for Naruto, but Gaara nodded instead of rejecting the idea. "We should. What are you doing Friday night?"

Naruto felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest and suddenly he had the urge to cry. Friday night... every Friday night... Sasu...

"Nothing." Naruto pushed all thoughts of that man and all forms of depression deep inside and smiled up at the redhead. "Absolutely nothing."

Gaara's eyes furrowed. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Naruto forced the smile to look even more natural as he started to close the door. "See you tomorrow morning."

Gaara nodded as Naruto shut the door, waved, and then made his way over to his own car. Naruto sighed as he slid into the driver's seat and leaned his head back against the head rest as he listened to Gaara drive away. Once he could no longer hear the sound of the truck or any other forms of life, he allowed the tears that he restrained to fall from his eyes.

It was actually comforting to know that he was starting to move on... even if it felt like his inside were being pulled out...


	10. Familiarity

**I am so sorry for taking so long with this update but that's life. Stuff interferes and interrupts and everything goes to shit! I've actually had the majority of this chapter done for quite a while I just haven't had the time or energy or inspiration to finish it. And somehow now that I'm ill and no longer as stressed as I have been for the past two weeks... I decided to sit down and finish this. **

**Warning: There is probably a greater deal of OOC in this chapter concerning one character who happens to have hair resembling fire. Sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or "Stay" by Sugarland

* * *

**

Chapter Ten:

"You had a date?" Kiba asked in an astonished voice.

Naruto had arrived home at around six thirty in the evening after his date with Gaara and was surprised to see his best friend waiting for him in the drive way. Kiba immediately got out of his car and marched up to Naruto's once he was parked and demanded to know where he had been. It was understandable that he was worried because Naruto usually left the school around four or four thirty and today he was considerably late. However, that didn't explain why Kiba had been waiting there for so long and gave him the right to storm over to his car and depend and explanation.

Naruto ignored the question, got out of his car, unlocked the door and walked inside. Once he was settled on the couch, and had the Inuzuka breathing down his neck, he finally told Kiba where he was and everything that had happened with Gaara.

"Well... kinda..."

"What do ya mean 'kinda'?" Kiba exclaimed. "You two went out to a nice place, sat in a secluded 'couples' area and you held hands! It was a date!"

"We didn't really hold hands..." Naruto was embarrassed that he had even told Kiba about when he laid his hand over Gaara's and the waiter interrupted them. Although Kiba did find the waiter bit quite entertaining.

Kiba rolled his eyes. "You're such an idiot, Naruto. He paid for the meal, from the sounds of it he was flirting with you, and he probably means to ask you out again."

Naruto bit his lower lip, "He already did that..."

"What?" Kiba stared at him with shock in his eyes.

"He... um... asked me out again." Naruto hastily added, "But he didn't call it a date!"

"I'm sure he didn't but that's what it is."

"Yeah..." Naruto mumbled and averted his eyes. The main thing on his mind was finally about to come up.

"Naruto?"

"We're... we're going out on..." Naruto inhaled deeply and forced his tears back, "on Friday..."

Kiba's expression fell flat and concern flooded his eyes.

"Are you okay with this?" He asked, leaning in closer to his friend who was staring down into his lap.

Naruto refused to look up for the longest time and Kiba couldn't tell if he was crying or not. He certainly couldn't hear noise coming from the blonde.

Finally, Naruto sniffled and breathed out a shaky sigh. "It's about time... I can't... I can't live like this anymore..."

Kiba waited silently for Naruto to continue, if he was even going to. It was a tense moment and for once, Kiba didn't want to pressure him at this time to move past Sasuke.

"I really... I didn't imagine that it could happen this fast." Naruto swallowed the rising lump in his throat. "It's weird to have someone else..."

"Do you like him?" Kiba sounded far more serious than thought possible in asking such a question.

It didn't faze Naruto, however. He was deep in thought. He chewed on his lower lip as he slowly lifted his head.

"I don't know," He finally breathed, staring straight forward but Kiba could see the side-view of his eyes and could tell that Naruto really didn't know.

"He... reminds me... of Sasuke."

Kiba sighed loudly. He wasn't trying to hide the fact that it disappointed him greatly to hear that Naruto was going after an image of the man who tormented him.

"But... he's different..."

That sentence obviously caught Kiba off guard because he sat up straight from the way he was leaning over into his lap.

"What does that mean?"

"Their personalities are similar... but they're different."

"How?" Kiba was genuinely concerned about his friend's well-being, for all he knew Naruto had gone insane.

"They're both quiet and personal... dark and mysterious but in different senses. Sasuke broods but Gaara is just silent... it doesn't seem like he's thinking of anything..."

"Creepy."

"Maybe..."

"But this doesn't make sense Naruto."

"It's their eyes." Naruto's voice by this point had become so serene that it was starting to scare Kiba.

"Eyes?"

"They're so intense... but in a completely different way."

"How so?"

"I'm not sure... but they are." Naruto thought back to when he gazed into Gaara's piercing eyes. They held so much more hidden emotion than Sasuke's. Maybe Sasuke was better at hiding his type of emotions from Naruto. However, he believed that it was merely easier for him to see Gaara's hidden emotion because they were so similar to Naruto's own.

"He's more familiar to me than Sasuke is. I shouldn't really say this but... our pasts are somewhat similar."

"You mean he was... treated badly like you were?" Kiba seemed much more intrigued in the serious sense now.

"Yeah... only worse maybe because he didn't have anyone. At least I had Iruka, the old man and Ayame growing up. But he it doesn't seem like he had anyone at all."

"Wow that is rather deep..." Kiba's voice had grown far too serious for his personality by this point and Naruto was stunned by the logic of the following question, "Are you sure you can handle that much after you've just gotten out of this last one. This is serious business and would call for a lot of emotional attachment."

Naruto let his eyes fall to his lap after he got over the initial shock. "I honestly don't know... but... I think I want to try this..."

Kiba sighed yet again, only this time not out of disappointment. "You just can't keep it simple can you Uzumaki?"

Naruto finally turned to face Kiba and this time he had a sly grin on his lips. "I guess I can't."

Kiba grinned and shook his head. "There's no helping it. I'll be here for you."

Naruto gave him a soft smile, "Like always."

"Damn right," Kiba smiled back with a laugh.

* * *

Naruto smiled as he walked through the rows of seats in his classroom, picking up the finished tests of his students.

He had felt a lot better all week than he had before. It was nice to know that he was starting to live a normal life again. He hadn't felt this way in nearly a year. Of course, it had to be pretty damn close to being a year by now. Naruto wouldn't know about that though. His depression and anxiety caused him to lose all sense of time.

As soon as he got back to the front of the room and behind his desk the bell rang, dismissing the students from their last class of the day.

Naruto bid them goodbye and told everyone to have a good weekend before they stormed out of the room like wild cattle.

Konohomaru paused beside Naruto's desk.

"So you're okay now then?" His young student asked with a note of concern in his voice.

Naruto smiled back sincerely. "Yeah, I think I'll be fine. Thanks for worrying, brat." He added with a teasing grin.

Konohamaru glared back and stuck out his tongue. "Have a nice weekend, ya ol' geezer!"

"Get home before I give you more homework!" Naruto yelled back as the young boy ran from the classroom.

Naruto chuckled to himself as he sorted through the papers, shaking his head at his younger friend who also happened to be his student.

"Threatening the students is against school policy, isn't it?" A familiar voice drew the blonde's attention to the door. The strange thing was, the voice was familiar but the humor wasn't.

Naruto smiled back at the semi-smiling redhead. This must meant that Gaara was opening up to him. "Nah, only if you get caught. Don't tell Iruka and it'll be cool."

Gaara nodded with a humored expression on his lips as he entered the classroom. He leaned up against one of the desks in the front to watch as Naruto organized his papers into a folder and neatly put them away inside the left drawer on his desk.

"You didn't appear to be organized before." Gaara commented.

"You should see my house. Definitely not always organized. My room is a mess and so is the kitchen." Naruto laughed, continuing to clean papers off his desk.

"Hm..."

Naruto eyes narrowed at Gaara's tone of voice but he didn't look up to meet his gaze. That sound had a very thoughtful and curious yet sensual quality to it.

"Okay, done. We can head out if you're ready." Naruto smiled as he looked up and suddenly became aware of how intently Gaara had been staring at him.

Gaara simply nodded and didn't seem the slightest bit fazed or arrogant to have been caught staring.

Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat and pleaded with his heart to stop beating faster, as it always did when he looked into such intense eyes. "Okay then." He forced a smile and walked with Gaara out of the classroom and down the hallway.

"I noticed that your car wasn't in the parking lot today." Gaara spoke, breaking the awkward silence that had spread between them.

"Uh, no. My friend crashed at my house last night so I got him to drive me here this morning. That way my car won't stay here in the parking lot all night and you won't have to drive me back here to get it."

Naruto felt his nerves fret a little more when he told Gaara this. He would be worried of how Gaara would take this. In essence, it meant that Gaara would have to drive Naruto home after their date. On another note, Gaara could take it as an invitation to bring Naruto back to his own house and Naruto wasn't sure how comfortable he was with that notion. He had never actually gone to another man's home before, in this type of situation that is.

The blonde jumped out of his thoughts at the loud beeping sound caused by Gaara unlocking his truck.

"I forgot to mention," Gaara started anew without responding to what Naruto had said previously. Or else he had responded and Naruto had been too busy within his own mind to hear what the redhead said. "My barbecue was stolen last night and I didn't get a chance to report it this morning. Do you mind coming to the police station with me so I can file a report."

Silence was all that followed. Naruto could have sworn that he had been capable of movement prior to this moment and yet he couldn't remember how to do so. Breathing seemed like something he also knew how to do once upon a time, although no air filled his lungs. He also remembered there being something in the left of his chest, possibly beating, and now it felt empty.

"Naruto?"

His hearing appeared to be working fine. He'd heard his name, however he wasn't quite sure how to respond to this voice or focus his eyes on the source.

SNAP! Naruto's head snapped backwards and his eyes instantly focused in on the fingers that had made the snapping sound very near to his nose.

Everything flooded back to the blonde in one breath, which his lungs thanked him for. Everything had returned to him, all the knowledge, everything, even the pain which he wished had remained empty in the left side of his chest.

"Uh... sorry."

"You don't have to come." Gaara assured, with a hint of concern in his voice. Strangely enough he could also read this concern in his eyes, Naruto must have made him worry for an emotion to be recognizable within those deep eyes.

"Uh... no, I...um... I guess I'll come." The words managed to stumble out of his mouth and he regretted each and everyone, even the ones that weren't actually words and merely sounds. He didn't want to go there. Not to where _he_ worked. Naruto had never really encountered him outside of their Friday night setting. Not to mention, he had yet to see Sasuke since he'd finally broken off everything. Seeing his face would probably cause all of his recover to crumble back into the pit of despair. He'd worked too hard to get over his self-pity and self-loathing stage to fall back into depression at losing someone who hadn't really been there for him.

"Are you sure?" Gaara pressed with the kind of voice that asked him if there was a reason he didn't want to go there. Naruto didn't blame him. No normal person acted the way he did when being asked of they wanted to go to a police station for such a mundane task.

"Uh, no. Sorry, I'm fine. I can come." Naruto forced the convincing fake smile back onto his face and attempted to brighten his eyes. He could deal with this. If he didn't face this sooner or later he would be afraid of Sasuke and the entire police force his entire life. That could not be a productive fear. He only wished that he wasn't going there with Gaara... who was potentially his date.

* * *

"Are you coming?"

Naruto jumped out of his previous thoughts to look down at Gaara who was now on his right. Before, Gaara had been to his left in the driver's seat and now he was on his right holding the door open for him.

"Um... yeah." Naruto's fake smile reemerged on his lips and he turned to move out of the vehicle but found himself abruptly pulled back by the seatbelt which still held him in place. His face flushed with embarrassment as he reached down to undo the detrimental safety device.

Naruto could only imagine what Gaara thought of him being apprehended by his own seatbelt. Although he hated himself for how uncomfortable he was behaving in front of the redhead. Gaara wasn't supposed to know about this side of him. It would have been better if they had continued on how they were going without Naruto's mind revisiting the past.

Something in the very back of his head told him that if things were to go anywhere with Gaara, this situation or Sasuke couldn't simply be ignored and avoided. However, at this given time, Naruto chose to ignore that fact and proceed out of the vehicle.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Gaara asked once again.

Naruto merely nodded with his commonly used fake simle, that had never once been called out, and patted Gaara on the arm.

Gaara didn't seem pleased with this reaction and grabbed Naruto's arm instead.

This shocked the blonde, not enough to cause his smile to falter, but he was forced to steady his head as Gaara's eyes fixed on Naruto's blue ones in an instant lock. "If there's something going on, you can tell me. You don't have to tell me what it is but I don't want to force you to do something that makes you uncomfortable."

Naruto was astonished. He hadn't expected these kind of words from Gaara and he had no idea why he hadn't.

This time the blonde offered a sincere smile and managed to calm himself. Naruto knew he had to face this now or else he would be too afraid to do it on his own later. Not to mention how difficult things would get for him to even think about Sasuke in the future if he didn't get a little closure while he was able. He had to grow up and accept things as they were and move on. He couldn't put this off any longer and lapse back into denial, it had to be done and now was the best opportunity for him.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Gaara eyed him suspiciously but after a while he seemed satisfied and released the blonde. With that, Gaara closed the passenger door behind them and locked the doors with a press of a button.

Naruto took in a deep breath as Gaara led him into the police station. Things seemed normal. He had been there before but never for his own reasons usually. He generally came with Kiba in concerns to his canine unit. Gaara was sure to stick close to Naruto's side which comforted the blonde greatly.

Despite his best efforts, his eyes wandered across the room and through the glass windows that divided offices, among other rooms. He wanted to keep his eyes on the floor or on Gaara but his eyes craved a certain sight now that he was inside the building and they roamed desperately.

Once his eyes locked on his appropriate target, he severely wished they hadn't. His heart and body ached to be near the raven who sat behind a desk, flipping through a file folder with a half-serious, half-bored expression on his face that was so difficult to read. Most people in the building probably didn't read the boredom on Sasuke's face because he was so good at hiding emotions.

Suddenly Naruto felt his arm being nudged and he turned absent-mindedly to see that Gaara was attempting to lead him over to the front desk. Naruto allowed himself to be pulled along but when he glanced back to the area his eyes had been previously occupied by he stopped moving instantly. The blonde was lucky that he was already in front of the desk, standing just behind Gaara enough that he was comfortable. Although Naruto wasn't lucky because his eyes were now faced with the suspicious, glowering ones of Sasuke's.

As they continued to stare at each other, Naruto noticed that Sasuke's eyes would briefly shift to left. He was studying Gaara. Naruto was almost shocked to realize this. Did Sasuke think Gaara looked like a suspicious person?

Naruto jumped slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder and managed to pry his eyes away from the raven haired man to look back at the redhead.

"Are you ready to go?" Gaara asked, the concern in his voice just as strong as before.

"Um... yeah... sure." Naruto nodded and faked a smile.

Gaara nodded again, turned to thank the officer who apparently helped him and making a report about his stolen property. Naruto took this opportunity to look back at Sasuke and to his shock, he found the raven's eyes to be glaring intensely. Only they weren't aimed at him... they were aimed at Gaara. Could Sasuke be... jealous? Impossible was all Naruto could think.

The redhead's hand brushed Naruto's arm to get his attention once again and he nodded towards the doorway. Naruto nodded back and followed Gaara out of the police station, feeling Sasuke's eyes burning into his back even as the door closed behind them.

As they approached the truck, Naruto let out a sigh of relief. He had actually faced Sasuke... more or less. Yes he did still have a longing to be with him but he didn't have an instant breakdown upon seeing his gorgeous face. He was actually starting to get over the married man his heart belonged to. Perhaps he was getting a piece of it back a little at a time.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Gaara asked again once they were seated in his vehicle.

"Yeah." Naruto smiled, "Yeah I think I'm okay."

"We don't have to go out today if you're not up to it."

Strangely, the idea that Gaara would bring that up brought on a feeling of disappointment. Naruto enjoyed spending time with the redhead and this was probably a good way to pass the time and forget about Sasuke.

"No, I want to go out. I've been looking forward to this." He assured his date with a sincere grin.

Gaara offered his own version of a smile before starting the engine and pulling out of the parking lot.

Naruto was very glad that Gaara didn't press for answers. It would have been awkward and would only manage to end what hadn't even started yet. There was no way Naruto could ever confess to Gaara what he'd done for a year. Having a homosexual relationship with a married man was as close to taboo as you could get these days, apart from incest and bestiality. Which meant having sex with a family dog would be so far out of the question.

* * *

"I still can't believe how rude that waiter was!" Naruto commented again for possibly the fifth time that evening.

"It was entertaining when drowned your salad in vinaigrette." Gaara chuckled.

"Holy crap! It looked so nasty!" Naruto recoiled in mock disgust.

"I'm surprised you risked a bite."

With that comment Naruto was no longer mocking disgust, he truly felt it. "Oh... I can't believe I did that... I nearly barfed right there."

"That would have pissed him off even more."

"Hey! It's your fault don't forget!" Naruto teased, pointing an accusative finger at the driver of the vehicle.

"No it isn't. You hand slipped into mine on its own accord."

Instantly Naruto found himself blushing, just as he had when Gaara initiated the hand holding at the restaurant. Before Gaara could continue and get several points ahead of him, Naruto retorted, "And I'm sure my thigh was ordering your foot to caress it."

"No. That couldn't have been the case because if it had been you wouldn't have jumped as high as you did."

Naruto's blush deepened. It was only natural to startle when one felt an unexpected touch very near the crotch area.

"A little warning would have been nice!"

"Okay, next time I'll make you to tell you." Gaara smirked at the glowering blonde who stuck out his tongue and turned to glance out of the dark window.

"Naruto I'm going to put my hand on your thigh."

"What?" Before Naruto could finish turning around and give Gaara a confused stare, he jolted upright in his seat from the immediate warmth of the redhead's hand placed firmly on his thigh. Very high up on his thigh, he might add.

"And still you jump."

Naruto opened his mouth to retort but nothing came out. Naruto wasn't sure whether he liked the way Gaara's personality changed after they had spent so much personal time together. Although it was entertaining. Nonetheless, he glared full force at Gaara and pouted, "Whatever..."

Gaara laughed at this but his hand remained on Naruto's thigh. "You're cute when you're pretending to be angry."

This earned the redhead a more heated glare that was accompanied by brightened checks. This only caused Gaara to chuckle even more before focusing on the road once again.

"Take a right up ahead..." Naruto mumbled in one of the most perturbed voices he could muster.

"You can't actually be upset." Gaara began to retract his hand but Naruto's hand covered it before he got too far away.

"Nah. No worries." Naruto smiled, his eyes instantly brighter than their previous glowering state.

"So you like being teased?"

And the glower returned.

Gaara laughed even more. But before they could continue this any further, Naruto realized how close they were to arriving at his home.

"My house six houses ahead on the right."

Gaara nodded and slowed his speed so he wouldn't miss it in the dark.

"Yup, this driveway coming up."

The headlights of Gaara's truck lit up his driveway and reflected off the backlights of his own car. The redhead parked next to the orange car and turned to look over at the blonde.

Naruto found his heart racing incredibly. He realized now that this was the first time he'd brought any man other than Sasuke to his home... any man that he was interested in that is. They hadn't actually decided on anything. But they had just finished eating at a nice restaurant, Gaara had once again insisted on paying, and he drove him back to his home. It was only natural to assume something was going to happen.

"So... um... do you want to come in for tea or something?" Naruto managed to get the sentence off his nervous lips.

"Only if you want me to." Gaara assured him with a gentle look in his eyes which comforted the blonde's inner turmoil. "I don't want to push."

Naruto offered him a smile, "Yeah, you can come in."

Gaara nodded and proceeded to shut off the engine to his truck before they stepped from the vehicle. He locked his truck as he followed the blonde to the door where Naruto fumbled with his keys. The longer it took, the harder it seemed to get the key into the little hole on the door. Perhaps it was shrinking in spite of him.

Despite being calmed slightly, he was still nervous and something inside him was attempting to prevent them from entering his home where the question of sex may or may not be brought up.

"There," Naruto let out a sigh of relief as he finally unlocked the door and pushed it open. He lead Gaara into the kitchen, closed the door behind them and gestured around.

"And this is my home."

"Your kitchen isn't a mess."

"Huh?" Naruto was taken off guard. He hadn't been anticipating that kind of response.

"Before you mentioned that you had a messy room and kitchen. Did you clean?"

"Oh!" His dumbfoundedness left him instantly when he recalled their conversation from earlier that day. "No, I haven't cleaned. It's normally like this. Although..."

Naruto finished taking his shoes off and hanging his coat before he moved over to the cabinets.

"_This_ is a mess." He spoke as he opened a cabinet door, revealing the food items that had been crammed into the area in any possible way imaginable. Before Naruto could close the doors, a package of ramen noodles fell from its unsecured space in the cupboard and onto the floor.

"I see." Gaara commented, watching as the blonde returned the noodle package to the mound of tightly confined box hanging above his kitchen counters.

"Yeah... so... tea." Naruto closed the cabinet doors carefully, making sure not to disturb any other food items that were searching for an escape.

He opened a tin canister that was sitting on the counter near the stove. "What do you like? I have pretty much ever flavor."

"Anything that isn't sweet."

"Okay." He began digging through the canister, picking out an orange pekoe for himself and an earl grey tea for Gaara. The kettle was already plugged in and full of enough water for two people so all he did was reach over and flick the switch before opening another cabinet to grab some mugs. Just as he was placing the tea bags into the mugs, he felt a pair of strong hands rest on his hip bones and his body stiffened immediately.

"Naruto." Gaara's sultry voice caressed the blonde's ears, causing chills to run through the his body.

"Uh huh?" Naruto felt his throat close up and he found breathing to be rather difficult.

"We've yet to discuss what this is exactly."

"This?" Naruto's mind was too hazy to comprehend anything being said to him.

Gaara breathed deeply into his neck and Naruto felt his body go numb.

"Yes, this. What exactly are we doing, Naruto?"

"Uh..." Naruto gripped the counter to give himself balance in the mind that he was slowly losing grip of. He didn't think he possessed the capabilities to answer that question seriously. His instant answer was sarcastic and obvious. "Well... um..."

"So far we have gone on two dates."

"Have we?"

"I regarded them as such."

"But you never said..." His mind reflected back to the mind games Gaara had put him through in previous situations but he would be lying if he hadn't though of them as dates. "Yeah... we have..."

"And now we are here in your home."

"I suppose we are..."

Gaara's lips were less than an inch away from the exposed flesh on Naruto's neck.

"I like you, Naruto."

Naruto felt himself instantly pulled from his faded, hazy state of mind. It was a very sudden awakening, so sudden that Naruto moved away from Gaara's body and collided with the counter that was so close in front of him.

"Naruto?"

"You... what...?" Naruto didn't know why this startled him so much. It had been relatively obvious that Gaara had feelings for him. He had feelings for Gaara as well, but that didn't change how scared of getting hurt he was. He had so many restraints about trusting someone or letting himself be with someone again.

"Naruto, I like you." Gaara repeated, taking a chance by stepping to the blonde's side and placing a hand on his shoulder.

Naruto slowly turned his head to have his blue eyes locked by the mysterious, chilling depths of Gaara's eyes.

There were so many things that held Naruto back from getting involved with this man. He had too many attributes that reminded him of Sasuke that he didn't know how well he could handle them. Not to mention the fact that it seemed like Gaara was simply a replacement for the man he resembled. However, there were also qualities about Gaara that were so different from Sasuke. Qualities that Naruto was fascinated by. Although, to be entirely honest, Naruto felt his decision was within Gaara's eyes. So familiar and yet unknown... they intrigued him and yet comforted him. Perhaps, in time, he could learn what made these eyes different from the ones he had grown accustomed to.

Gaara's hand moved to Naruto's face and he held the blonde's cheek in his palm. Naruto let his eyes flutter closed and he moved into the touch. Chills spread through him when Gaara's thumb brushed his lower lip but he remained still.

Gently, cautiously, Gaara's lips found Naruto's. Naruto was surprised by the warmth he felt at the touch of another's kiss. It felt like it had been years since anyone had touched him so tenderly. His heart ached for the one he no longer had. However, he was keenly aware that the person kissing him was not Sasuke. Their lips were different, their kiss separated by a quality that neither possessed. Sasuke's presence, his kiss, everything about him gave Naruto the impression that he was drowning, always being overwhelmed by a feeling that he could never get enough of. Gaara was tender, tempting a part of Naruto that he hadn't known could be included in something as intimate as a kiss. It captured him but didn't constrain him in such a way that he felt surrounded by it.

Gaara broke away softly from Naruto's lips. Instinctively, Naruto's lips moved as though to follow Gaara's. It was apparent to himself by this movement of wanting more, that he liked kissing this redhead. However, he still wasn't sure whether or not he liked the initial person who was kissing him. Not yet at least. It was far too complicated.

Slowly, his eyelids lifted and he was once again captured by those eyes which never left his own.

Gaara caressed the blonde's cheek as they continued to stare at each other.

"I'll see you on Monday." The long, intimate silence was broken by Gaara's question which was spoken more as a statement than anything else.

A look of confusion spread across Naruto's face and Gaara picked up on it instantly.

"I don't want to push you. You need time to decide things for yourself." Gaara's serious voice stunned the blonde who had been so entranced just moments before.

Once what Gaara had actually said to him sunk into his thick skull, Naruto sighed. He really didn't want to think anymore. His mind was tired of thinking so much. That's all he did nowadays. He constantly had a headache from the activity in his brain. However, this was probably for the best. Naruto didn't want to rush into something especially now. He knew he liked Gaara, although he didn't know to what extent.

"Yeah. Thank you." Naruto smiled softly with sensitive eyes.

Gaara nodded and headed back to the door. It was only when he had opened the door that Naruto noticed Gaara hadn't taken off his jacket or his shoes. Perhaps he'd been prepared for this outcome?

"See you Monday." Naruto chimed, waving him off as the door blocked him from further viewing the redhead.

Naruto sighed heavily as he leaned back against his counter, listening to the sound of Gaara's truck backing out of his driveway.

Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin when the kettle turned off with a loud click. He hadn't even heard the water boiling. It was now that he realized that they hadn't even put their tea into hot water. He laughed and shook his head as he placed the earl grey tea bag back inside the canister and returned the mug to its rightful spot.

Deciding not to waste his hot water, Naruto poured the boiling H2O into the mug holding the orange pekoe tea bag.

As he dipped the tea bag in and out of the water, allowing the tea to mix, he unplugged the kettle and retired to the living room.

Mindless television. That was something he hadn't explored in a long time. He may as well see what exactly was happening in the media realm since he had nothing else to do. It was especially good for watching when you didn't want to think about what was going on in your own life. Instead you could dive into a hospital drama with an arrogant asshole doctor who was addicted to vicodin or a strange sci-fi western that mixed mentally unstable characters with Chinese curse words.

Naruto spent nearly ten minutes flipping through the channels. There were a great deal of movies on, considering it was a Friday evening, but none of them caught his interest. Naruto finally decided on the comedy network, which stared a random comedian he'd never heard before, and got up to use the bathroom.

However, Naruto found it very odd that, while washing his hands, someone began knocking on his front door. It had only been about fifteen minutes since Gaara had left, it was very likely that he'd forgotten something and came back to retrieve it. Maybe he had placed something down while Naruto was watching because he left without picking anything up.

As Naruto walked towards the kitchen to answer the door, he found that the idea of Gaara forgetting something appealed to him greatly. He was looking forward to seeing the redhead again and the sooner the better, he thought.

"What? Did you forget some-" Naruto's words caught in his throat. He'd opened the door expecting the redhead to be there but the person he greeted did not possess bright colored hair. "Sas..."


	11. Closure

**So it took me a while... I apologize but I've been busy and I have a life... or so I claim haha. But here she is, the next installment! The red curtains part and you are finally able to see who Naruto's unexpected visitor is... as if you didn't already know!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or "Stay" by Sugarland

* * *

**

Chapter Eleven:

"Sas..." Naruto's heart had jumped into his throat. The beating of it caused everything to seize up and nothing else could be voiced from his mouth.

"You were expecting someone?" Sasuke interjected sharply. His voice and expression clearly expressed rage.

Naruto could only stare at the raven with eyes wide with shock and confusion. He didn't know why he felt guilty as he faced the familiar visage, but he did. It shook his countenance and he was forced to avert his eyes.

Sasuke scowled. The look on Naruto's face was apparently all the explanation he needed.

"I'm surprised that you could get over me so quickly and jump on someone else." His voice was deep and aggressive, but Naruto was able to hear the jealousy within it.

"What?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes dangerously, locking with Naruto's the moment he glanced up from the particular spot on the floor.

Naruto was instantly silenced by such a fierce look. He couldn't remember a time when Sasuke's eyes held such burning rage when looking at him.

Without being invited, Sasuke let himself in, closing the door behind him. He left his coat and shoes on, however, making it obvious that he wasn't going to make himself comfortable like old times.

"How do you know he's not using you?"

Sasuke asked after a long pause of silence. By this point Sasuke had ventured over to the counters, leaving Naruto's hurt expression to be transferred to the wall. Never once had Sasuke been offered a drink from this counter. They had never eaten together here in this kitchen. And yet, Sasuke, no doubt, was greatly accustomed to the layout and the atmosphere of this simple kitchen. Every Friday he would pass through this kitchen alone after ridding himself of his shoes, jacket and other apparel he would bring inside with him.

"What?" Naruto rounded on him. The hurt on his face was replaced by astonishment. Sasuke even suggesting that as a possibility was absurd. No one could possibly use Naruto more than Sasuke had, although he would never make it a point of saying that out-loud... even though he should. "Gaara would never do that! You don't know him at all!"

"I'm only trying to be sure you didn't get involved in some scandal. Maybe he's tricking you into losing your job at the school? Or trying to take your position." The raven continued in his snide remarks, the jealousy no doubt fueling the hatred he held towards Gaara.

"Sasuke, that's ridiculous! Do you even hear yourself?" For once, Naruto wasn't going to stay silent. He was not going to sit there and idly allow Sasuke to say such horrible things as opposed to the horrible things he used to do.

"Someone needs to look out for you." Sasuke spoke nonchalantly, although he continued to speak in a scornful tone.

"Well it's certainly not you!" Naruto spat at him. The intensity behind his words were weakened, however, by the sheer disbelief that Sasuke was the one saying these things. Sasuke could never be the one to care about his well-being. Naruto had finally grown to understand this.

"Why can't it be me?" Sasuke demanded, his eyes bleeding green with resentment.

"Because you've hurt me the most!"

The passion behind his voice startled Sasuke, causing some of his malice to dissipate.

"Everything you do tears at my heart! Why can't you understand how much you've made me suffer? Why can't you see, Sasuke? I hate feeling like this because of you! It's all your fault that I can't... I can't do anything! Nothing! Even when I fool myself long enough to think I'm happy, you keep coming back!"

"I only came back here today..." Sasuke spoke, slightly confused.

"To my mind!" Naruto yelled, his anger building on Sasuke's lack of seeing beyond the literal. "I can't even kiss someone without thinking about you!"

Sasuke's expression fell blank for a moment before it was instantly filled with shock and betrayal. "You... you've kissed him?"

"Yes!" Naruto cried, both verbally and physically, as tears began to leak from his eyes, pushed out by the rising passion inside him. "I enjoyed it but you were there! You're always there! Why can't you just leave me alone? Why won't you-"

Naruto's eyes widened as he was silenced. His immediate reaction was to fight back, to escape, but he couldn't. Not only did he lack the energy and will to move away, a part of him longed for this and refused to give this opportunity up.

Soon he was drifting away. Back to a time when he was happy, when he was content, when he was able to passionately return another person's caresses, feelings and push his lips feverishly against ardent lips. He allowed himself to slip away and be transported into a state of rapture. His eyes had long before fallen shut against the cold colors of his home and quickly replaced by the blissful shades of his mind.

His body felt the hard, firmness of the wall that closed in behind him and the eagerness of the frenzied body which pinned him there. Naruto was brought to a place where nothing else but ecstasy mattered. Nothing could disturb such a wondrous feeling, such an exhilarating, euphoric sensation.

Somewhere, as the breath was exchanged, Naruto's voice began to express itself and Sasuke's hands conveyed their purpose.

"Ah..." The warmth transferred between their bodies as Sasuke's hands roamed the terrain of the blonde's torso. Soon their journey brought them beyond the hips as they found they spine and their travel was directed south.

Naruto gasped loudly as the hands slipped beneath his pants, squeezing his bare flesh tightly with a heated excitement. The firm grip pulled his body forward, causing a collision between hips and a friction between the hottest appendages of their bodies. Naruto didn't recall a passion so strong as now, however he did not dwell on this fact. It did not matter, nor did he have time. The friction increased with accelerated need and vehemence.

"Ah! Uh! Agh!" The authority of Naruto's body lost all control over his voice and it expressed itself loudly and lustfully.

As his body remained restrained against the wall, the hands which pulled him closer were no longer required in their current positioning and they were retracted in order to venture to the front of their bodies. There was a need that needed addressing. A need that strained for the other. Sasuke's hands worked nimbly to release this temptation, to give into the temptation. They unclasped the button of the blonde's pants and as he did, his voice rested upon Naruto's ear.

"I need you..." He spoke in a husky voice, no longer of this world but within a dream world of desire.

The voice echoed through Naruto's mind as he gasped, leaning back on the wall, which seemed to be the only thing really holding him upright.

The zipper was successful unzipped and as the hips of his pants were being shifted downwards, the voice which echoed through his dazed mind took heed. Those panting words awakened dormant feelings that were not present in his pleasurable world.

Disappointment, sadness, distress, grief, misery, melancholy, sorrow, defeat, failure, shame, helplessness, and despair were all emotions that he should not be feeing. Yet they were awakened. Awakened by the voice who caused both.

Naruto's blue eyes pulsed with reality and Sasuke's body was thrust off of his own.

Sasuke was left in a stupor. His mind was still thick with a lustful haze that he couldn't comprehend what had just happened. Why his body was no longer against the one it craved. Why the entrance to his desire was being zippered up by the hands which banished him. It was inconceivable.

Without thinking, Sasuke's body made to move back to it's original place pressing firmly on Naruto's body, but the blonde's arms were held up in protest.

"No, Sasuke." His breathing was heavy, as it had yet to recover from it's previous engagement, but they were firm and convincing. "This is wrong."

This jolted Sasuke back to his former frame of mind, bringing with it the eyes which vented such a horrible display of spite.

"Will your new boyfriend be jealous?" He growled, his anger being directed solely towards Naruto.

Naruto didn't bother denying the fact that Gaara was not his boyfriend and instead glared back with as much intensity, only less anger.

"Your wife might be."

Sasuke's brows furrowed in confusion. Not once had Naruto uttered something as hypocritical as that sentence.

"Growing a conscious now? You knew very well I was married."

"I was also told that you wouldn't be any longer! A year this went on, Sasuke. One _year_ of promises! Of false confessions! Of passionate, heated, loving SEX! And yet not once did you leave your precious little wife! Not once did you give me more than one night of mind blowing, blissful sex! Not once! That's all this was! Some entertaining, weekly aired porno that you indulged in! I'm done with this!"

Sasuke stood there, dumbfounded, gazing at the fuming blonde. Never had he seen Naruto raise his voice to such an extent and speak in such a manner. A part of his ego wanted to be flattered by how Naruto expressed his true feelings about their sex, but everything was said in such a hateful, dismissive way, that he wasn't able to.

"Naruto... I... want to be with you." He spoke hesitantly, afraid the way in which he worded his sentences would provoke the blonde more.

"What makes you think that isn't what I want! I want you to be with me, Sasuke!" It felt like his heart had lodged itself in his throat. Right now was one of the only times he could ever really recall being one hundred percent sure of what he truly wanted.

A soft, relieved smile graced Sasuke's lips, melting Naruto's anger and forcing him to glance away. He couldn't bare to meet those precious eyes or see that beautiful smile. It killed him.

"But I can't be with you." He murmured, nearly under his breath but loud enough to travel the distance to Sasuke's ears.

The smile shattered and fell as though Naruto had thrown a rock at an image in the mirror.

"Naruto..."

"This is wrong. Doing this is wrong right now and it's been wrong for a year."

"But you said it felt-"

"I know how it felt!" Naruto yelled, the tension within himself growing stronger. It was painful to have admitted everything he had, but he knew what he needed to do more than anything now.

"Then why?" Sasuke shot back. "Why don't you want to-"

"I never said that!" Naruto growled. "I want to be with you! But we can't! Can't isn't the same as-"

"I know that!"

"Why can't you understand?"

"Maybe I don't _want_ to understand!"

Naruto glared as the raven twisted his words around on him.

"Well you're damn well gonna have to!"

Sasuke faltered at the swear word. Naruto rarely ever cursed.

"Why do I have to?" Sasuke spoke through gritted teeth, attempting to control his voice and calm himself. "It's not hurting her..."

Naruto wasn't surprised that Sasuke had understood his reasoning well, but that didn't increase or decrease his irritation.

"She doesn't know about this."

"It doesn't matter! If she ever found out it would kill her!"

"So you're threatening me?"

Naruto stared at him, bewildered. "Why the hell would I ever do that? I'm just speaking out of experience! If she had to suffer the knowledge that her lover was always leaving her for someone else it would be the most painful thing in her life!"

The once silent tears reawakened and sprang forth from Naruto's red and tired eyes.

"Everyday I suffered! You left me and didn't even care! All you left me for a week was false promises and self-loathing! Every single day I blamed myself for allowing myself to stay with you and suffer. Now I know that it's your fault too, but only to a certain extent. It's my fault for not leaving earlier than I did. But I left! I gave this up and still I'm suffering! Why do you have this hold over me! Why can't you go away forever? I can't accept this as normal! You need to leave! I'm through with your constant mind games! The next time you want to venture outside of that closet go find someone else!"

Naruto's face was colored with anger. He wasn't sad. There was not a single drop of pity left for the man he loved.

Sasuke locked his jaw and stared him down, hoping to provoke him into saying something else. To change his mind or leap into his arms. Something that would calm him down but Naruto stood strong and stubborn.

"Leave my home, Sasuke." He spoke calmly but threateningly. He was not joking around anymore and there was no way Sasuke could make up for this.

Sasuke moved towards the door but not once did he remove his gaze from Naruto's. Their eyes were locked until the moment Sasuke had shut the door loudly behind him.

Naruto continued standing there, his eyes still looking that the last place where they had been connected to his former lover's.

He didn't even hear Sasuke start up his car, drive out of the driveway or down the highway but once he felt that his presence was completely gone, Naruto was able to breath. His eyes found their way to the floor, as did his fatigued body.

For an hour he sat with his hands holding his head as he attempted to register everything that had happened. His body was confused, shaking and apparently going into some sort of withdraw. His mind was puzzled, caught between three different worlds, one of ecstasy, one of hurt and anger and the other of the present. Nothing made sense to him for a very long time.

Eventually, however, he managed to lift himself up from the floor and transport himself into his bedroom where he collapsed on his bed. There he fell asleep without having the energy of crawling under his blankets or setting his alarm clock.

* * *

"Naruto. Naruto! Naruto, wake up!"

The blonde felt his body being shaken gently. Not on its own accord as it had been doing the night before, but by an external force.

He groaned, attempting to turn over but he was pulled back and shaken more harshly.

Slowly his eyes pried themselves apart, which was a feat all to itself, for his eyelids had felt as though they'd been glued together with carpenter's glue.

Naruto's vision took longer than he wished to adjust. The person who was disturbing his not-so-peaceful slumber was probably concerned with the fact that Naruto's cerulean eyes were open, but he had yet to acknowledge his intruder.

Of course, it wasn't Naruto's fault that his eyes were rebelling this morning, they had good reason to. However, once they adjusted to the light, the patterns, the colors, the depth, and everything else eyes were supposed to take in, Naruto felt both sorry and utterly confused.

Why on earth was this man here? Naruto had subconsciously believed he would be waking to the familiar face of his best friend, who had a knack for appearing at these particularly heart-aching times. But this time the concerned face which greeted him was far more stern than Kiba's could ever hope to become. Not to mention, his face was a great deal more flaming hair was certainly a color that disrupted the natural correction of his vision.

"Gaara?" Naruto's tired voice questioned. It was obvious he was confused but his face also refused to let anything other than exhaustion present itself.

"Are you okay, Naruto?" Gaara asked slowly and cautiously once he finally got a response from the previously unconscious man. His hands, however, which grasped his shoulders, did not retract.

"Um... yeah... I guess..." Naruto mumbled, trying to get over the fatigue which plagued his body. Although it soon dawned on him the thing that was most off about this situation. "Wait... why are you..."

"You weren't at school and you didn't call Mr. Um- Iruka. I decided to check on you." Gaara answered matter-of-factly.

"Yeah... that makes sense..." Naruto attempted to sit up in bed and was immediately assisted by Gaara, whose hands were still holding his body. Once Naruto was sitting upright, the redhead finally took his hands away. "But... what I mean... how did you get into my house?"

"You're door was unlocked." He stated simply, as though there could be no other explanation.

Naruto was glad to hear this. Sure he should be paranoid of what could have happened with his door unlocked and his body so unfit to defend itself. However, he was glad Gaara had legitimate reason, more or less, to be standing in his room without a requested entrance.

"Oh..." It was at this point that the memory of last night's activities returned to his conscious mind. He knew why he'd forgotten to lock the door. He wasn't really in the best state of mind to be concerned for his physical safety.

"You're not well, are you?" Gaara asked, although it was more of a statement if anything. Even a blind man could sense Naruto's distress.

Naruto turned his eyes aside at first. Never had he the ability, or the courage, to look someone in the eye when they possessed knowledge of his weaknesses or vulnerability. However, after a lasting silence, Naruto returned his gaze upon the redhead's visage.

With a heavy sigh, he spoke sincerely, never breaking the connection that had formed between their lines of vision. "No. No, I'm not well..."

Naruto offered a soft smile before his heart took over his body and willed his eyes to water. The blonde bit his lower lip as he sobbed, lowering his head as his tears overwhelmed him.

Without further questioning, Naruto was enveloped by a gentle embrace and was pulled close to a warm, caring body.

* * *

Naruto started as he heard a gentle rapping on the wood of his door frame. He hadn't even heard the front door open as he'd been so entranced by the endless Times New Roman font which occupied the stacks of papers on the coffee table

"Oh hey, come on in." The blonde smiled brightly to have his boyfriend's presence so near him after a long week without him being around.

The redhead moved in from the kitchen to join Naruto on the sofa, returning the blonde's sweet gaze. Before he could settle himself into a comfortable position on the couch, Naruto leaned in and kissed him passionately on the lips.

It had been a month since they'd started dating and just this past week, Gaara had to return to his home town for a family emergency. Apparently his older brother, who worked in a theatre making props and sets, was knocked unconscious by a falling set piece that was supposed to be secured in the air so that it could be brought in during certain scenes and then lifted out for the others. It was much easier and faster than wheeling it out, Gaara informed Naruto as he had been told by his brother. Luckily, Kankuro, his brother, had not been injured severely. He only suffered minor amnesia, a concussion and a few broken and sprained bones. Gaara had called and informed Naruto of this halfway through the week and he said he could have returned but he wanted to stay and help his sister, Temari, take care of their injured brother and make sure he was settled before leaving.

"I missed you." Naruto stated, smirking coyly.

Lucky for Gaara, he was used to such sudden displays of affection and was not taken off-guard.

"So did I." He smiled back, resting his hand on Naruto's thigh, massaging it gently. "More essays?"

"Yeah, the final essays were due yesterday." Naruto sighed, not enjoying the idea of grading papers when his boyfriend finally came back to him. He didn't know he could miss a person who he saw everyday for nearly a month so much when he was only gone for a week. It was strange in comparison to how much he missed a man he'd only seen once a week. Although, he couldn't, nor did he wish to, figure out which one he yearned for more. He was finished with comparison between the two men. Right now, he was happy simply loving someone who expressed their love for him.

"Are you hungry?" Naruto asked, changing the subject from the papers he desired to procrastinate at the moment. "I can make you a sandwich or something."

"No thanks, I had supper at six before arriving in town." It was currently seven thirty in the evening.

"Okay." Naruto smiled, glancing at the essays with disdain.

Gaara seemed to read Naruto's mind. "I wouldn't mind popcorn and a movie though. That is if you can take a break from-"

"Yes! I'll make the popcorn." The blonde nearly jumped up from the couch with an energetic look about his face.

Gaara chuckled softly to himself as he observed his boyfriend's hasty movements to clear the table of the crowd of papers.

"You can pick out the movie, Gaara." Naruto called to him as he brought the papers into the kitchen so he could organize them while waiting for the popcorn to pop in the microwave.

As Naruto sorted through the papers with the whirling sound of the microwave in the background and the popcorn which would soon start to pop, his redheaded boyfriend entered the kitchen and snuck up behind him. His arms snaked around the blonde's waist and he pulled their bodies close together.

"Aren't we supposed to be watching a movie?" Naruto teased as he turned around in Gaara's arms.

"You were too adorable. I couldn't resist." Gaara stated matter-of-factly.

Naruto's eyebrow rose as he grinned playfully. "Right."

Gaara smirked back in his nonchalant sort of way before closing the distance between their lips and lightly pushing the blonde back against the table.

The kiss was broken when the microwave suddenly let out three, long, loud, irritating beeps and the two were left gasping for air.

"Let's just not let the popcorn go to waste." Naruto joked before his mouth was captured once more.

* * *

The Friday morning came all too soon for the blonde who wished to stay in bed all day with his loving boyfriend. However, he was basically dragged out of bed by the redhead, who was always up on time regardless of the day, and forced into the kitchen with a promise of gourmet coffee.

Once the blonde was finally dressed he made his way into his kitchen and took over the eggs that Gaara was unsuccessfully cooking over the stove. He seriously had no idea how Gaara could ever manage on his own. The man was a disaster in the realm of food. Or rather... normal people food. Somehow he could cook odd, gross sounding food with no problem at all. However, simple eggs were a problem for him.

Gaara gratefully accepted Naruto's demand to take over the cooking of breakfast and sat at the kitchen table with the newspaper he had picked up outside before Naruto woke up.

He flipped through it as Naruto flipped the broken eggs and attempted to remove the few pieces of eggshells that accompanied them in the pan.

"Looks like there was a bar fight the other night."

"Really?" Naruto never really payed much attention to the news, it never really interested him. It only brought to him the misery of others when he could barely deal with his own. But he supposed it wasn't like that anymore.

"They say a police officer started it and is still being held in the hospital. Apparently someone was mocking his sexuality."

This sparked Naruto's interest and he had to restrain himself from turning around. He focused on the eggs instead. There was no way it could be who he was thinking about. That man was lost inside that over-sized closet of his and with the amount of baggage in there, Naruto wasn't even sure he could find his way to the door if he ever decided to come out.

"His name's Sasuke Uchiha."

The spatula and the fork Naruto had been holding in his hands fell from them, the fork landing in the pan with the eggs and the spatula on the floor.

Gaara wasn't startled but he looked up from the newspaper and observed his boyfriend suspiciously.

"Do you know him?"

"Ah..." Naruto's hands shook violently. He knew he would eventually have to confess to Gaara about his past relationship that was actually an affair and the source of his previous heartache. But he didn't think it would be evoked by something like this.

If Sasuke had been taunted in a bar about his sexuality... that must have meant that Sasuke had finally come out... did he leave his wife? Was he too late? What if he had waited just a month... just one more month and Naruto's heartache would have ended and he would have been able to live with his love in peace like he was doing now with Gaara.

Gaara...

Naruto turned around from the stove and gazed longingly at his current boyfriend. Gaara loved him. They were great together. Gaara had never led him on, he never toyed with his feelings, he was with him almost everyday and glad to go out with him. He enjoyed sleeping over in the same bed and waking up together. They ate together and talked and had a functional relationship that involved more than sex.

And Naruto was happy.

"Yeah. I know him." Naruto stated, a quiet smile gracing his lips.

Gaara didn't ask anymore questions that morning after Naruto informed him that he would talk to him about it later.

They left the house together, only in their separate cars, and arrived at the school together. Iruka was glad to see Gaara back and asked how his family was doing. Everything proceeded like a normal day. Except, on his lunch hour, Naruto left the school grounds in his car with the newspaper from this morning directing him.

* * *

Naruto entered the room silently. The patient laying in the bed with a bandaged leg and arm stared at him silently. It was apparent on his face that he was surprised to see him here, but he never moved or expressed any sounds of astonishment.

The blonde's eyes never left the raven as he stood there motionless and silent. It was a drawn on silence. Both refusing to be the first to speak after such a long time since their last communication... which needless to say did not end on pleasant terms.

With a soft sigh of resignation, the patient sat up as best he could in his hospital bed, not once breaking contact with those piercing blue orbs.

"Hey..." Sasuke spoke timidly, as though he was ashamed of himself. Naruto had never seen him so vulnerable, but he did not allow it to penetrate his guard, he couldn't allow himself to fall back into the raven's trap.

"Hi." He answered stoically. Sure he had been the one to visit the hospital, but it wasn't as though this was a pleasure trip.

"How are you?" Sasuke asked, his voice clearly displaying how uncertain his words were. He was unsure of what to say or how to proceed. Naruto felt somehow pleased to see this man lacking confidence for once.

"I'm doing good." Naruto spoke these words with true feelings behind them. He was actually happy and finally did not have to lie about his condition when asked how he was.

"And Gaara?" A slight bitterness crept its way into his voice.

"He's good. We're both doing good."

"Good... good..." Sasuke nodded solemnly, it was obvious that wasn't what he'd wanted to hear. The disappointment was written clearly in his face. Naruto was almost surprised that Sasuke wasn't hiding his emotions as he normally did.

Naruto stood in silence opposite the man he once loved, and probably still did. He was starting to feel impatient with the quiet and with himself for not mentioning what was truly troubling him.

"Did you come out?" He asked, shocking Sasuke even though he must have known this was how the blonde had come to find out his location.

Sasuke averted his eyes and nodded.

Naruto opened his mouth to speak but all he managed to do was hiss in some air before he fell silent. All his words were lost to him. The idea of Sasuke coming out so soon after things had been ended officially nearly killed him.

"What you said made sense..." Sasuke murmured lowly. "I was hurting Sakura, even if she didn't know about it. I've never seen her so heartbroken as she was when I told her the truth."

That line struck a cord within Naruto. "You told her-"

"That I'm gay. That's it. Nothing about you, I couldn't tell her that."

Naruto nodded, hanging his head again and biting his lower lip as Sasuke continued.

"We're getting a divorce." He said, with an almost positive ring to his voice. "I'm not going to be with her anymore."

Naruto struggled to hold back his tears. This is what he'd been waiting for, this is what he'd spent his last year dreaming about and hoping for.

"Sasuke..." Naruto began, in order to dismiss any ideas that Sasuke might have of them, but Sasuke quickly regained confidence and cut him off.

"Do you regret being with me?" Was his abrupt and astonishing question.

Naruto's blue eyes widened in shock. He'd never expected Sasuke to ask him such a question, never in his life. The raven's dark eyes penetrated his own, possessing the same amount of intensity that they had held in the past. This nostalgic experience brought the tears he'd been holding back to the surface, contrasting the smile that simultaneously appeared on his lips.

He laughed inwardly at the dread behind Sasuke's firm expression. He really did not need to think a moment about what his answer could be.

"No. I don't regret it."

"Even though I caused you so much pain?"

The surprised smile on Naruto's softened gently as the tears continued to well up in his eyes.

"I could never regret having you in my life, Sasuke. You meant the world to me... I've never been in love with anyone the way I love you."

Sasuke worried face softened at this words and it nearly looked as though he wanted to cry.

"But it's true... I've also never been hurt by anyone the way I've been hurt by you."

The smile that had been approaching Sasuke's lips faltered and faded away. Sorrow maintained the dark eyes that stared at the blonde, waiting for him to continue.

"I didn't think I could live without you... but I'm living now. You kept me so restrained, I had nothing but those Friday nights and now I have so much."

"Naruto..."

"I love you, Sasuke. But I couldn't wait any longer."

"I know..."

Naruto cursed inwardly at Sasuke's understanding. It was obvious what they both wanted. They both wanted to be together. But Naruto knew this was wrong. He loved this man but... right now, he had someone else who loved him and whom he cared for deeply. Gaara treated him so well. There was no way he could abandon what they had now. At the end of every single day, Naruto looked forward to all the times when he could spend with his red haired boyfriend, even if they were only marking papers together. For nearly a month, being with Gaara made him forget the hard times he'd put himself through for an entire year of his life... a whole year gone in a month.

"Do you love him?" Sasuke's voice was sad but earnest.

"Yeah... I think I do."

The raven nodded, "Just don't forget-"

"That's not going to happen." Naruto cut his old lover's sentence off with a stern yet positive voice. "I could never... nor would I allow myself to."

Sasuke half smiled to himself and Naruto just barely caught sight of it, as Sasuke's head was tilted down and to the side.

Again a silent air fell about the room as the two discreetly gazed at each other. Neither knew where to go from here.

"I'm proud of you," Naruto said, not too long after their conversation died. Before Sasuke could question the reasoning behind these words, Naruto continued. "For coming out and telling the truth."

Sasuke furrowed his eyes in thought, wondering how he should respond but not even after a second, he smirked and looked up at the blonde. "Yeah, well... my closet was lonely without you."

Naruto smiled softly at his joke.

"Besides... I couldn't keep living a lie after you were gone. You made me realize, or rather finally come to terms with, how wrong my actions were."

"I'm glad."

They smiled quietly at each other before Sasuke shifted in his bed.

"So he's treating you right?" He asked, attempting to sound nonchalant about it.

"Yeah... he is." Naruto smiled.

"Good. If ever he stops or if ever you get bored..." Sasuke trailed off, not feeling he needed to finish the sentence for either of their sakes.

Naruto gave him a small nod of the head in understanding.

Before they could lapse into yet another awkward silence, Sasuke caught Naruto's wandering attention with a signature look in his eye.

"Thanks for coming to see me, Naruto."

Every pore on Naruto's face was conflicted with the decision to be happy or to be sad. "Of course." Was all he said before turning and heading back to the door. "I'm glad we talked."

Sasuke nodded, "See you around, Naruto."

"Bye, Sasuke." Naruto waved as he exited the door and left the room in which he'd gained closure. He wiped the tears falling soundlessly down his cheeks away with his sleeve. However, he didn't find this hard anymore. He didn't want to run to his room and hid away in a taciturn manner for days. He was actually fine with how things ended and now he could go on to live happily without the memory of Sasuke looming over as a desolate shadow.

* * *

**Well, thank you for reading this chapter everyone... I hope you're not too disappointed to find out that this is indeed... **

**THE END. **

**The story is complete. Please review! I do appreciate the feedback. **

**Also... if you're like to flame, please feel free. I'm sorry if you're disappointed at the concluding coupling but... too bad haha. Tis the way it shall end... even though I'm considering the idea of writing a short sequel that I thought of when I first started this story... so you might wanna keep your eyes out for that if you enjoyed this one!**

**Edit: Sequel is up and running... It is called Remain. Please read if you are interested but feel free to stop the story here if you are content on the ending.**

**Edit 2: I am sick and tired of people telling me to change the characters in this fic (when you search) to Naruto and Gaara instead of Naruto and Sasuke. If you're unaware... the character search is asking who the two main characters are and ... in case you hadn't quite been paying attention to the story you just read... Gaara is NOT the second main character. Sasuke IS the second main character. The ENTIRE plot is about Naruto and Sasuke's relationship and Naruto's growth to gain the confidence to end it and then forgive Sasuke and gain closure to move on. I don't care if Naruto ends up with Gaara, he isn't the other main character, Sasuke is. No offense, but Deal. With. It.  
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**Again, thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate the time you've spent reading it and I love feedback so feel free to leave me comments ^^  
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**~~Arra~~**


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